The Devils Name is Arkham: Part 3
by Dresner1817
Summary: He's gone, Batman is Dead. Harley Quinn and Catwoman are left to lick their wounds in the wake of the Halloween Attack. It's over, but not for long as a new Dark Knight appears on the scene. The two are determined to find this new Batman, but they find themselves on a quest to Answer the number one question on their minds: Is the Batman really dead and gone? BatmanxHarleyQuinn R&R
1. Chapter 1: Recalling the Past

_**Ladies and Gentleman I, Dresner, Bring you The conclution to the DNA series. Here is Part 3! Now this story takes place after Arkham Knight and there will be spoilers so read at your own risk. I chose not to do the story during the event because its to perfect to mess with. Mainly because it has to do with Batman fighting his greatest enemy, Himself. That defines him in the Arkham series and it will be untouched. Though I will be playing with my favorite paring, Harley Quinn and Batman.  
Expect Lemons, Violence, Orginal Characters, War, and the usual from me and I hope you enjoy this story, the Series, and the Arkham Games. **_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

 ** _November 11th 2015, To who ever it may be..._**

 _He's gone..._

 _Batman is gone..._

 _Last night was a night no one in this city will ever forget... Neither will I or Kitty..._

 _We lost so many tonight that I can not even keep count anymore. So much death and destruction. So much pointless slaughter... Is this War? The War that drove men like Karl Dael to madness?_

 _Or is this the War that he wanted? A total war that brought cities like Gotham and its people to its knees?_

 _When I saw the Knight I thought it was him, The Black Hunter, But he was to cocky. To sure of himself. To arrogant to be him._

 _But he gave me some doubt, even more so once he gave me a small squad of my old goons, some hardware, and intel on one of Bruce's hide outs at the old theater. I knew he had a base there, but it was the prize inside that interested me. Some people that weren't lucky enough to get the vaccine Batman and Mr. Freeze made in Arkham City after Joker died, some including Batman himself. But I didn't know at the time, nor did I care or believed that he had a little bit of Joker in him._

 _I wanted two things that night, Kill the Jokers and Karl._

 _But I'm getting ahead of myself, My Name is Harleen Quinnzel. But you know me as Harley Quinn, The Clown Princess of Crime, and Yes we all know who Batman is after what Crane did to him back at the remains of the Asylum. But I knew who Bruce was before that, I knew him not only as Batman, but as my lover.  
Bruce Wayne and I had a strange relationship, but strange was something I was accustom to with the Joker. I met him in the Iceberg lounge seven or eight years ago, But I didn't meet Batman until the Joker's take over at Blackgate. At the time I was too enthralled with the Joker to realize that the Batman was trying to help me, trying to prevent the years of torture, abuse, and acts of murder that would lead up to the Asylum incident. I came to the light at the Asylum and redeemed myself in his eyes. I had a chance to give up the title of the Harlequin of Crime. A chance to come back to the real world and live a life I never had before. _

_But my Harley, my other side, said different wanting to try and save the Joker. She lead me to put a wedge between me and Bruce, leading me into Arkham City. There is where it began..._

 _Where I learned who Batman was. Where Joker died. Where I learned everything..._

 _He saved me from myself and from Karl. I owned it to Bruce to make a change for the better. I did and I never looked back._

 _Together we worked to better ourselves, to move on from the shadow of the Joker and lock his memory away for good. Not only the memory of the Joker, but the memory of Arkham City as well._

 _Bruce worked day in and day out as the billionaire trying to rebuild his city from the ground up and as the Dark Knight to protect the people and city from the villains both at home and across the country. I remember waiting for him at night, watching the night sky for the Batwing or his shadowy figure flying through the moonlit sky and the rain. Every night I would wait for him before he would throw of his suit and into another more silky and profession one and become Bruce Wayne. From there he would be fighting another kind of Villain, 'The Men in the Silk Suit' as Karl called the CEO's and Politicians._

 _It was a never ending fight to bring this city to peace, if there ever was one._

 _Time went on and soon I found myself being pushed ever more far away from him as his pursuits to bring Gotham back to glory began to dominate him more and more. Maybe that's why he left me that night?..._

 _But after the Commish was poisoned by the last Joke of my puddin -Sorry force of habit- I was thrown into a holding cell for about a week. Bruce said it was unnecessary, but GCPD thought different. It didn't last long and Bats broke me out and there I was back on the streets._

 _We fought, Verbally, and I got over it. I told him where to find the remains of the Joker venom and he gave me a task: Find out what the hell was going on._

 _Sounds easy right? Not really when you find out that your boyfriend was hiding a secret from you..._

 _Those Joker clones pushed me over the edge and there came Harley Quinn crawling out of the cracks..._

 _But they didn't get to far, not because of me, but because of Joker's own narcissism and need for a 'Pure' candidate. Batman, Bruce, was the chosen one and I could see it in his eyes. Harley wouldn't believe it, but I did. I saw those eyes change from blue to that obnoxious sickly green. He locked me away and Robin to 'Spare us' from the Militia. I don't know what he did after that, but the soliders came to the theater and took Robin. They left me, unknowing that I was Bruce's main squeeze. A solider, who I later found out to be Ricky Larson, a friend of Karl Dael, The Black Hunter, told me of the Bomb Scarecrow was about to detonate. He gave me a Mask made in a placed known as 'The Zone', A place I have yet to find any information on. When the gas bomb went off it flooded the room, but lucky for me the mask and help from Ivy's immunization shot she gave me years back helped me survive the attack. The gas destroyed the computer in the theater and the lock letting me escape into the city._

 _The streets of Gotham were already at war, but the cloud of toxin turned the streets into the first level of hell. I fought my way through the streets until Ivy's plants sucked up the Gas and saved us from Scarecrow's nightmare. The cloud of fear was replaced by green flakes raining from the sky, I didn't know it at the time but those green flakes were the remains of Ivy's body._

 _Red... She never liked people except me and her lover boy Karl. I guess Bruce brought out the good in old Poison Ivy and she, just like him, sacrificed it all for the city that never cared._

 _When the tanks rolled onto the streets once more I left to Wayne Manor to ride out the storm. Alfred let me in with some hesitation, but he knew I wasn't going to hurt him or anyone. I was in to much pain about losing Ivy to do any harm..._

 _But it didn't end there..._

 _I saw Bruce strapped to the harness at Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow ordered Gordon to remove his mask._

 _"It's the end.."_

 _It's the end? As if he knew that this was going to end this way? He told Catwoman that! He told all of us that it was over!_

 _WHY DID HE GIVE UP?!_

 _He didn't have to give up who he was... To give up his identity to the world... To give every schmuck with a gun a face to shoot..._

 _He did and he paid the price..._

 _The manor went up in flames at dawn with the whole world watching from the hundreds of cameras standing at the gates of Wayne Manor..._

 _Nightwing took me out of the manor before I could see him, saying that I had to own up for what I did to the Bludhaven police department the night before. Sore loser!_

 _I spent that night in a jail cell at Blackgate for my crimes, but it didn't take long for an old friend to bail me out._

 _It was there where I saw Selena Kyle, Catwoman, with a light yet sad expression on her face._

 _"So you knew too?" She asked me as the cops opened the cell to release me, referring to Bruce being Batman._

 _I nodded, "Yeah so?"_

 _Selena didn't say anything and hugged me, "We both lost someone in that manor, Harls. Me and Bruce use to date a long time ago. I guess we had something in common..."_

 _It hit me that Selena had something with the bat when we had the Sirens, but at that time I was more into Joker than Bats. But to know she felt my pain of losing him made me feel a little more comfortable with Her._

 _"Wait!" I said surprised, "How did you know about me and Bruce?"_

 _She sighed, "He told me after he saved me from Nigma. But even then he told me that it had to end to save us both from what would come after that night. Who knows?"_

 _I didn't want to think about it anymore and neither did Selena. After we signed a few papers and paid bail, we went home to her apartment to forget this whole ordeal. To try and move on from it all..._

 _She's like my other sister, just like Ivy was my big sister, Kitty was the fun one. We tried to forget the past and move on, but a few months pasted and soon we learned of a new figure dawning the Cowl._

 _We did the only thing we knew how: We hunted him down to find out who this new 'Dark Knight' was..._


	2. Chapter 2: Letter's end

_**Chapter 2 is here, Finally. Please enjoy and thank you for the reviews, With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

 _Looking for the New Batman was hard, Harder than trying to track the original. I remember when I was with the Suicide Squad under Amanda Waller, I say that because I formed one when working with Penguin, A rather bullshit group of Mercenaries from the Squad minus Karl Dael who seemed to have fallen off the face off the earth, and we attempted to track Batman during our raid on the Asylum only a year before the Joker took it over._

 _Even with our history with the Dark Knight we still couldn't track the newest addition to the Bat Family. So we had to rethink our efforts as Karl world say..._

 _We decided to Find Nightwing in hopes of him. From Gotham to Bludhaven we found the first Robin, but he didn't hold the answer._

 _"Bruce is... Is... Gone Harley." He told me with a heavy heart. "Who ever this Batman is, he has taken a burden heavier than any of us could bare. Leave him be please Harley, just leave him be."_

 _The current Robin gave us the same spill. It seemed that what happen that on the morning of November 1st was what it was._

 _But I simply couldn't believe that Bruce Wayne died, I couldn't believe it, I wouldn't believe it._

 _Selena_ _believed it, and it broke her. Bruce was her love and to lose him was the hardest thing she had to cope with beside her status as the bastard child of Falcon. With those words, Selena packed her bags and left Gotham for good..._

 _I couldn't let myself give up on Bruce, I couldn't except him being dead, and deep down I knew he wasn't dead._

 _I went to Wayne Manor later that night to comb the remains. There wasn't much left other than some wreckage, stone, and wood. The search lasted until the sunrise on the morning of the 5th. But even then, there was nothing. Or so I thought..._

 _On the East Wing was a fireplace with a large stone chimney. The blast and the ensuing fire should have destroyed it, but no this chimney stood defiantly above the remains of the Manor. I looked around it until finial elbowing into a loose brick on its surface. The fireplace rose up and revealed a passageway leading down into the corridors hidden under Wayne Manor and Gotham itself._

 _Down there I only found ruins..._

 _The once proud base of one of America's most powerful heroes was now just as barren as land above. The Computer was destroyed, the forensic lab annihilated, the training area obliterated, and the R &D Lab smashed to atoms. _

_My first Clue was the cave itself. If the Bomber planted explosives in the Manor, How did he know the location of the Cave? Bruce had this place locked down as tight as Fort Knox and anyone smart enough to find the access and dumb enough to try their luck against his defenses would have had a hard time getting to there. Through out the wreckage inside I soon found the charges used in the attack.. Then It hit me then and there, Bruce did this to himself. The charges were of high grade Semtex made only by Wayne enterprises that were invisible to the CSI's scanners. I new the stuff to well as 'Explosive Gel'. The smell of glue oozed over the computers and scanners of the Cave. Only one man had enough Gel to do this- Bruce Wayne._

 _This was planned and enacted by Bruce Wayne Himself!_

 _This is all I had to go on and all I needed from there to build my case. After more searching I found a USB drive with a list of cities and file marked 'Batman Beyond'._

 _I can't go on about the file to you, dear reader, but what I can say is that this was in the works for years after the Suicide Squad hit Arkham a few years ago._

 _Bruce knew this was coming at some point, when the jig was up and Gotham needed a new hero. His successor..._

 _He left his beloved city in the hands of a new Knight to continue his legacy. Who ever it was I did not care, he wasn't the man I fell in love with._

 _I leave this here to you, dear reader, to spread the word loud and clear: I'm going for the Bat, the original Batman, and I am not coming back to Gotham without him. I leave everything to Selena Kyle and her friend Maggie for the time being. To Selena I say to keep your faith in Bruce, for I know in my heart that he is alive somewhere in the vast world. AND to anyone wanting to stop me or kill Bruce is going to have to go through me!_

 _With Love and Laughs ~ Harleen Quinnzel_

* * *

"That is the end of the Letter, Comrade Major." A Ukrainian Mercenary Captain read to the coated Major. The Major was standing by a large window over looking the remains of Arkham City. Beyond the terror and dread of the former Mega-Prison below was the Gotham city skyline. Tower cranes and sky scrappers ripped the dark rainy clouds of Gotham city. It disgusted the Major, the Skyline, sure it was a sign of progress, but it was also the sign of Gotham cities ever growing similarity to Brazil or any other third world country with only extremes of Wealth and Poverty. Gotham was a depressing, even after Wayne's Gotham Reborn project and the election of Mayor James Gordon, who continued the project in Wayne's name.

"Thank you Comrade Captain." He says to the Captain in a slight Russian accent. "Bruce Wayne is still among the living, He has to be the bastard is to hard to kill by any force or man. Just look at the Army Jason Todd amassed to assault this armpit of America. One man defeated an army of over 6,000 men, 400 tanks and APC's, 23 Aerial Drones, Two Super Heavy Tanks, and a Chemical Weapon. One man defeated them all. ONE MAN! This man would not simply commit harakiri over losing his identity to the world. No..."

The Major turned around to a rather young man in late 20's with tightly groomed blonde hair and sea blue eyes. His name was Konev, Adamska Konev. Major Konev is Russian by Birth, Born 17th March 1990, Age 25, in a small neighborhood in Leningrad, Now St. Petersburg. The Major was young, but proven in battle with GRU Spetznaz operations in Korea, Ukraine, and the Middle East. He wore a simple black Battle Dress Uniform with a black hooded coat to shield him from the rain, All his men of this scout unit in Gotham wore a variation of this to hide among the populous.

"No, The Batman is not just a man. He is a legend, a legend that will not simply go away with the times." Konev replied. "Send this report to Headquarters and begin Phase One of the Operation."

"Da Comrade Major!" The Captain Replied, rushing down stares to the command vehicle, A Semi Tractor Trailer converted into a mobile command post.

Konev return to the window to gaze at the Gotham City Skyline with a straight face. Contemplating wither or not this lead would the Organization on trail of Bruce Wayne. The smooth vibration of a cell phone broke his train of thought, "Go ahead."

"Ms. Kyle and Mr. Dael have been detained in at Panesse Studios on Bleake Island. Report at 20:00 Hours for interrogation of the Subjects. Phase One of Operation Rebirth is a go." A female voice commanded him over the phone.

"Yes Ma'am." Konev replied hanging up the phone with a smile.

At the Studio a woman clad in all black clothing gazed over the containment chambers where the Joker Victims were once held. It was one of the last relics of the Batman that remained in the city of Gotham. She read of the facility in the reports taken from GCPD shortly after the disappearance of Mr. Wayne. But she didn't care of his secret and used this move by the Organization to check up on her old flame Karl Dael.

She looked over at him as he slept on the cell bed only briefly before scolding herself, "No, Not just yet." She said to herself as she looked over at Selena Kyle. The guards stiffened up and held their compact AK-104 assault rifles tighter. It was unwise to look docile around Madam Claudia Marlin, especially when she was given the choice of life or death for them.

"Prepare her for questioning, Interrogation room Alpha One!" She snapped at the guards. The two men rushed to open the door, keeping their guns trained on Selena as they opened the chamber.

"WHAT?! Why are you-" Selena shouted before being injected with a syringe full of a sedative. She passed out quickly and fell into the guards arms.

"Harm her and you'll know how it feels to be dissected like a frog." She shouted as the guards rushed Selena was slung over the shoulders of the guards and taken away.


	3. Chapter 3: Into the Fire

_**Greetings Comrades, Sorry for the wait. Between working, going out to the field, and just major league Bullshit I have managed to crank out this. I hope you all enjoy this and some OC's. I know people hate OC's but I'm trying to fix that. Enjoy :)**_

 _ **With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Darkness filled Selena's view. She calmly looked side to side for a break in the darkness, but there was no hope. Darkness surrounded her and it seemed to swallow her up like a sink hole, leaving her alone. She tried to move out of her chair until realizing that she was bound by rope and chain onto her seat.

She tried to shout of help, but a gag prevented her from screaming. Only the muffled groans and yells of a entrapped kitten caught in the wolfs layer. Out of the silent darkness came the clicking of heeled boots drawing closer and closer to her, circling her.

"Selena Kyle, AKA Catwoman, yes?" An older woman with a slight Cajun accent. "For the love of god! Konev! Why do you insist on bound and gagging my subjects as if they are Prisoners of War?!"

"Madam! Kyle is a dangerous criminal. To not bound her is to allow failure!" Konev, The Russian, shouted.

The sound of a hammer locking to the rear on a revolver sent chills racing down Selena's spine. The woman said something in Russian to the man named Konev something stern and cold before unlocking the hammer to holster the revolver.

"Lights!" The woman commanded as the hood was snatched from Selena's head. Blinding white lights shined in her eyes tunneling her vision to that of only the lamp above her. The gag was forced from her mouth and soon began her stand against the unlawful abduction, "If your working for Eddie after that little stunt he pulled then your a little to late. Your employer is in Arkham and I don't think he's getting out for a long time."

From the shadows came a woman in a black tank top under a black leather coat cut at the knees with a pentagram token hanging from her neck. Her black and gray streaked hair was tired into a pony tail that was draped over her left shoulder. Her eyes were a light blue that seemed to see though Catwoman, Through Selena. She was beautiful for her age, whatever it was. Her eyes soon turned to the large revolver handle hanging out of a shoulder holster on the woman's right side.

"My apologize for Comrade Konev's incessant need to bound his captives." The woman explained to her as she pulls a key and a estrange dagger from her coat and places it on the table. "His time in duty for his Motherland brought him around a different kind of people, or what some would call them. In GRU they always taught him to treat their captives like livestock. But you Ms. Kyle are not livestock."

The woman snapped her fingers and the Blonde Russian regrettably unlocked the chains and cut the ropes with a knife. Selena looked down at her body to see a blue Jump suit with the number 330 on a name tap.

"Where is my suit? Why am I wearing this rag?!" Selena demanded from the woman and the Russian.

"Burned." Konev replied with a smirk. "Hard to believe that your one of Gotham's most feared heroes once your suit is gone. Pathetic woman."

"You were captured in Madrid, Spain, after tracking down a man by the name of Lester Kurtz. Why is that?" She asked Selena as the known bugler rubbed her wrists and left the feeling back in her arms.

"No reason. Just out for a walk that night. Who's this Kurtz person?" Selena replied dumbly.

"Walking on the roof tops with a Wayne Enterprises 40 power binoculars?" The woman replied.

"I'm a bird watcher." Selena said smugly with a smirk.

The woman shook her head and snapped her fingers at Konev. The Russian placed a brief case on the table and slid it open to Selena. "Open it." He ordered her.

She obeyed and flipped open the brief case revealing a documents and photos taken of her at a yard in Downtown Madrid stalking Kurtz. Digging deeper she found pictures of her and Batman sharing one last kiss on the night of the 31st after Wayne's secret was revealed to the world.

"I know the pain you feel, Selena, I know it all to well after losing my talk, dark, and brooding." The Woman said with a slight smirk that faded away as quickly as it came.

"Lester Kurtz was an alias used by Wayne during his infiltration of the Arkham City Mega Prison a year ago. It was there where he disrupted the seizing of a TYGER Corp's arm shipment. Wasn't really a big blow, but enough to attract the attention of our mercenaries operating in the area. The name hasn't appeared in the system in a year since then and this is the first real use of the name since then." Konev explained as Selena pulled a file on the man and barley recognized him as Bruce by the eyes and his stance.

"You knew it was him, Selena, You knew. But you second guessed yourself and decided to get closer to gain contact." The woman pressed on, "You spooked him and he ran, you gave chase, and failed. Kurtz got away and you found yourself in the countryside where you were cornered by our men after a tip from a contact."

"What does this have to do with me?" Selena snapped. "I want Bruce back just as much as Harley. He meant more to me than anything in this world. I had to be sure it was him! I followed a lead from Harley about an arms shipment from Gotham to Spain. All of it from what remained from the Arkham Knight's Militia after the end of the 31st. A guy called Lennox was running the deal and Harley told me of Batman's former alias. Arms being shipped OUT of Gotham, especially what that crazy wanna be Batman had crawling through this town, was the perfect way to find him." Selena explained. "But why does any of this matter? Why did you arrest me and throw me into some cage like that creep Karl!?"

"End Interview. Bring in the next detainee!" Konev shouted, bringing in two uniformed soliders took her back to the cells. Selena screamed and thrashed violently as they pulled her from her chair and sedated her before throwing the hood back on her head.

The woman threw her seat back and threw her hands on the table in disgust at the sight before her. "Why the hell did we bring her here? This is wrong!"

Konev only smirked, "She was in league with the Batman and encroaching on our target. This 'Catwoman' is known for her ties, no matter how loose, to Batman on countless levels. She knows him better than anyone!"

"Not even Harley Quinn?" The Woman replied, taking the wind out of his sails.

Konev grew angry and rose his voice, "This 'Harley Quinn' is nothing but a psychotic doctor! She could not locate her own nose if it was not on her face!"

"Yet she knew the identity of the Batman before the US Government? Yet she kept a secret relationship with him until his 'death'?"

"Luck! Pure luck!" Konev replied arrogantly.

* * *

 _ **Containment Cells-**_

The soliders threw Selena into her cell forgetting to remove the hand cuffs and hood. The sedative wore off quicker than last time and she sprung to her feet. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! UUUUUAAAGH!" She screamed into the darkness of her hood.

Muffed shouts of Russian could be heard over her screams telling her to silence. "Quiet bitch!" One shouted banging his fist against the clear cell door.

Selena continued to struggle to much of the guards annoyance forcing their hands to open the doors and 'Correct' her.

Nothing broke through the darkness of the hood from what Selena could see. But her almost super human hearing gave her a clear picture, Being a world renown thief working in the shadows to steal some of the worlds most valuable goods you learn to relay on your other senses. Bare feet slapping against the cold concrete behind the solider caught her attention. She tried to focus on the movement of the soliders as they drew closer to her in the cramped cell, but the bare foot steps grew louder and louder until the gasps from the soliders alerted her to another person in the room.

It was quick... One solider tried to scream before a thunderous crash followed by a short burst of gun fire from a AK type rifle. Seconds later the hood came off and she saw the bodies of the dead soliders in dark tan uniforms laying in a pool of blood and shell casings on the floor. In front of her was a tall man in his early thirties with a thick scruffy goat-T with plenty of tattoos barefoot in nothing but black coveralls holding a AK-104 Carbine in his arms.

"The hell are you doing here?!" Selena shouts at Karl Dael.

"No fucking clue, maybe cause you drew these fucks to my little arms shipments!" He responded, cutting her restraints. "I heard a chopper land on the roof. If we move quickly we can take it and get as far away from this city as possible. No way am I going to face interrogation at the hand of some pig."

Selena attacked him, pinning him against the wall with his own weapon. "In this city you couldn't trust your own Family with your life, let alone someone like you."

"You say it like its a bad thing!" Karl laughed as Catwoman pressed him against the wall harder. "This city is Cancer, but I'm just a mercenary trying to get out of the game."

"Oh poor little hunter, That would have worked on someone like Harley. But not me." Selena replied, "I play the game too, you know? I'm just a little better at it than you."

Karl smirked as she pushed the side of the rifle against his throat. "True, but the latter is debatable." He says, kicking her feet from under her, smashing her face with the rifle, and turning the rifle against her. "I still hold the gun in my hand and the will to survive."

"Will to Survive?" She replied questionably. "A dirty mercenary dealing guns overseas? Looks like your looking out for your score rather than yourself. I can sympathize with that..."

"Sympathy isn't something I recognize Selena." He replied, not moving his gaze from the sights of the rifle. "But what I do recognize is that our situation isn't exactly ideal especially with people like these dragging us back to this city..."

"Gun fire at containment! Sections two and four respond!" The radio chattered to life on the bodies of the dead mercs.

"Hmm Friends of theirs?" Selena asked Karl. He grunted and let out his hand to her.

"Come with me and live or stay and die. It looks like that Russian doesn't want us to see the light of day." Karl replied as the sounds of Russian grew louder and louder as did the foot steps. Selena still had her questions, but the sound of death coming her way made it easier for her to chose her path.

Karl turned around to the door way to cover her. "Move now!" He told her as she ran to the elevator. Gun fire erupted as Karl began firing well aimed single shots at the incoming soliders as they burst through the door. Selena took the elevator as bullets ricocheted around her as the Black Hunter fought on against the unknown soliders in tan. Karl scampered back to the bodies of the dead men in the cell for fresh magazines once his ran dry. The solider capitalized on his openness and closed in, taking him unprepared and unarmed. They crowed around him briefly before breaking off to capture Selena Kyle.

"Hush little baaabbbyyy don't say a word..." A voice full of whimsy sang from the rafters, catting the attention of some of the soliders.

They shouted to one another in Russian and some in what sounded to be Spanish. Some threw on Inferred or Night Vision goggles to search the ceiling for the source of the song.

"Mama's gonna kill for you..."

The power flickered and soon shut down for over five second only to return a short time later. In the middle of the room was a little jack in the box playing its tune. It was blood red with four red diamonds shaped into one large diamond. The soliders separated into sections and investigated the music box unaware what it was for. Selena and Karl took cover as best as they could as a explosion rocked the room killing a handful of the soliders and knocking down the four watching Karl and Selena giving them time to fight back and defeat them. Karl took back his AK and snatched a pistol, Glock 17, from the dead men to give to Selena. Karl scanned the rafters quickly before running to the elevator.

"Who the hell had the Harley Quinn Bomb on stand by?" Karl asked as he did a brass check on the AK. "I don't think these guys have a need for Clown Class Weapons."

Selena smirked and charged her weapon, "Harley might not be far away after all..."

The elevator reached the surface and the two marched off into the autumn rain of Gotham city. From the platform they could see the slums of Bleake Island and the monolithic skyscrapers of Founders Island in the distance. Gotham wasn't beautiful in any respects especially when pitted against Metropolis or New York, But she had character and her own charm. That charm being danger and Selena Kyle was addicted to the rush of danger. But it wasn't just the danger of rushing bullets that kept her here, it was the gold mine of wealth that was centralized in the City.

The high pay off belayed that high risks involved...

Karl knew this too, but unlike her he never had any close ties or luck with the Mob bosses, Law enforcement, or the Bat Family. No he had to do things his own way, the only way he knew... A Solider for Hire. A solider working for unknown benefactors across the world killing whoever and whatever he was told to kill for a heavy price. But unlike Selena, who did it for enjoyment and profit, he did it because it was the only thing he knew what to do.

But his boss wouldn't be happy once they found out who captured him.

Karl looked around for a few moments for signs of a helipad or a preparation area for a chopper. From the Northeast he could smell traces of JP8, Jet fuel used in Turbine engines, sitting in the air. "Hmmm... JP8... The US Military's go to fuel for it's turbine force..." Karl said his body tensing up. The sound of a helicopter from the east caught his attention and caused him to shoulder his weapon.

"What has you spooked?" Selena asked him in a confused and Hostile tone. "Oh did you forget the GCPD loves to show off its helicopters?"

"That's not a Bell Longranger." Karl replied as the sight of a unusual helicopter appeared on the horizon. "The fuel is different, It's military grade, but the blades... They way they cut through the air... That chopper is Russian... Kamov Design Bureau's Ka-60 'Orca'."

The helicopter closed in and was indeed a Ka-60, shown by the fantail and modern air frame design with retractable landing gear. The Kamov circled around the facility briefly, sending the two into cover to hide from it's Door gunners brandishing PKM machine guns, until hovering over them menacingly. Karl held his ground with his weapon at the ready to unleash a burst into the under belly of the Kamov. But the sight of a ladder falling from the cabin followed by the waving of a slender blonde.

"Friends of yours?" Selena asked him as she went for the ladder.

"I don't recall letting another blonde in my life." He replied bluntly as he slung the AK over his shoulder and climbed the ladder. Once inside they found a happy Harley Quinn embarrassing Selena with a hug as soon as she came inside. Harley scowled at Karl, which was expected, and sat down by Selena. He looked over to the cockpit to see his old Friend's Ricky Larson and a tall man, roughly 6 ft, Karl's height, riding co-pilot.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Harley sneered.

"Look what the mental ward let loose." Karl replied raising his Kalash. "You come to kill me, Bitch?"

"Drop the AK and sit down, Karl Dael." The Tall Co-pilot replied coldly as the sight of a Desert Eagle came into his peripheral vision. "You have three guns trained on you and one on the Pilot." The Co-pilot drew another Desert Eagle and pressed it against Ricky's head.

"Boss! What are you doing?" Ricky shouted to the Co-pilot.

Karl turned the barrel of the AK on the Co-pilot and Selena as their guns took aim on his torso. Harley Quinn closed in with a red and black .357. "Try us and we'll dump you in the Gotham river. No one will miss you."

"Selena. What are you doing?" Karl demanded from Catwoman.

"Harley and I are sisters in spirit." Catwoman told him as she closed in as well with the Glock. "But Jason? Well he's family."

He turns the sights of the AK to the Co-Pilot and in disbelief, dropping the weapon below his chest and returning to a more friendly posture. "Jason Todd..." He said in a low almost admirable tone. "Red Hood... Also known as the Arkham Knight. The man who nearly beat the Bat..."

"That's nothing to talk about, Merc." Jason replied in dark monotone.

"Yeah so shut yer mouth!" Harley added as they put away their guns. "We're going on a ride, ok big boy?

With those words Selena stuck him with a large needle of sedatives to knock him out. Karl fell to the floor with the darkness closing all around him. But in his fading concessions he saw Red Hood, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman talking seriously in low whispers.

"Everything go according to Plan?" Harley asked Selena.

"Yeah. The Patriots took me to their temporary outpost in Gotham. They interrogated me and showed me the files. I have it all on the camera." Selena replied taking a contact off her eye and handing it to Jason.

"Wayne Enterprises micro filament eye camera. Perfect for espionage once reverse engineered." Jason replied. "Did you get a good look at Konev's handler?"

"No..." Selena said with despise. "She kept herself in the dark. But I managed to get a tracker on Konev."

"Great! You know what this means!" Harley squealed with glee jumping up and down joyfully.

"Cut it out. It doesn't mean anything until we get the intel." Jason replied, reminding Selena more and more of Bruce. "Larson! Get us back to the Farm. We got some question for your pal..."


	4. Chapter 4: Turning point

_**Sorry for taking so long my friends. So far Work has picked up and so far time is just another commodity that is lower in number than my funds. Enjoy this Chapter :)**_

 _ **With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

 _ **The Farm, 40 miles from Gotham City.**_

The Kamov landed in a large clearing near a large two story brick house set in the middle of miles of forests. Larson assured them that this was the place and that it was safe from 'The Patriots' or whoever the mercenaries that captured Selena and Karl. But Jason didn't believe him. Jason never believed a word from him or Harley, especially that Clown. They were not worth the seed their fathers spent to create them in Jason's mind but he had to hold back his urge to butcher them all, to rid the world of three more criminal scum.

But they had their uses...

Especially Harley...

Jason threw Karl over his shoulder as the helicopter powered down. "This is your base of Operations? A farm house?" He asked questionably to Ricky. Ricky removed his flight helmet to reveal a young ginger lad with buzz cut. Ricky Larson was once a trouble kid roaming around the streets of Gotham running with any gang that would pay him. After meeting Karl in Arkham City, He was living the life as a Mercenary. Kosovo, Sierra Leon, Mexico, Croatia, Chechnya... Where ever his commander went he followed.

Not for the pay, but because he was loyal to his leader.

"Yeah." Ricky replied. "It's not much. But it does its job."

"It better." Jason replied Darkly as Harley skipped through the woods to the door of the farm house. She opens the door for the group and they all find a rather well off home. It wasn't modern but it was all right due to the rebuild. Ricky told them that this home was once a hunting lodge that Karl's Father Built way back when he was live. It was given to Karl in his will and Karl used it for it's purpose and as his temporary base of operations.

"Well welcome." Ricky says reluctantly as they all barged into the plantation style home with hard wood floors, dark painted walls, wooden and leather furniture, and a modern kitchen. The two story home surprised the trio with the beauty with in the old home. "Wipe your feet please."

They ignored him and barged through the door. Jason carried Karl through the home to the garage on the other side of the home and bound him to a metal folding chair for interrogation. Selena and Harley on the other hand explored the country home looking for valuables or intelligence. Ricky followed the women to make sure they didn't find anything Karl would scold or kill him for.

The women found themselves in awe at the mix of carpentry and masonry as the oak wood walls and floors turned to stone and granite. Room after room held beds with their own bathrooms and furniture for soliders. The barracks were well off and beautiful just like the rest of the home. up the stairs they found officers quarters and later Karl's room.

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile..._**

Freezing ice water woke him like a bolt of lightening as the Black Hunter struggled in his bounds.

"Get up." Jason shouted to him with disdain.

"To hell with you Todd, you worthless-" Karl replied before a fist interjected against his face. "Wretch. Reject."

Another blow followed by another hard boot heel to the stomach. "Keep it up and I'll make sure your six feet under after all this."

He spat out a mouth full of blood with a smirk. "I wouldn't have it any other way kid." Karl replied smartly.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" Jason replied as he lunges toward him getting face to face with him until Karl could see his reflection in the red mask.

Karl spit blood once more and smiled, "Red Hood, The Arkham Knight, and Robin. The Second I might add!"

Jason round house kicked him on the floor and drew his side arm pressing it close to Karl's forehead, "Stop talking." Jason growled with venom dripping from his words.

"The Robin who was incarcerated by the late Joker and held captive for over a year in the hallow halls of Arkham Asylum. The Robin who was brain washed and later became the Arkham Knight and now the Red Hood." He continued as Jason cocked the weapon and pressing it tightly against his forehead. "The Robin Bruce Wayne found on the street trying to steal the tires off of his own precious Batmobile. A troubled youth abandon on the street and conscripted into the Bat Family. Your Father is missing or six feet under like your Mother. Should I continue, Red Hood? Or should I say JASON?"

His index finger pressed against the trigger until it was on the brink of releasing the hammer sending it thundering into the firing pin and sending a .50 caliber action express slug into his brain and ending his life once and for all.

"I know you, Jason. I know all about you and your little deal with the devil." Karl taunted him, unafraid of death as it stared him in the face.

Jason removed his mask to reveal his face to the hunter. His blue eyes burning with rage and hatred as he stared at a Black Hunter as those words echoed around the room. "Go ahead..." Karl told him in a whisper. "End my life like the rest of the demons in this city. Bring me to your god so I may end this nightmare..."

"JASON!" Harley shout, tackling him to the ground. She wrestled the gun out of his hands and tossed it across the garage floor. "You can't kill him yet! He hasn't told us what we want to know!"

"Does it matter harlot?" Karl asks in a nihilist tone and a crooked smile. "Waller or Konev will kill me before you do anyways." Catwoman stood by leaning on the door way watching by as Jason and Harley fought like children. Karl's words caught her attention as did his smile. His arrogance made her sick as did his negative attitude. She didn't know much about him beside his reputation as a mercenary, but from what she could see and hear he was a nihilist. She couldn't understand why. He must have had a good life as a hired solider with abundant contracts from across the world. What made him give up all that money? The will to live?

"Who says we are going to kill you, big boy?" Catwoman asks him.

Karl turns to her with a loose smirk. His eyes undressing her as he relishes in the beauty of Selena Kyle's trademark catsuit. "Who said you weren't, honey?" He replied, "Harley knows my record and I'm sure Todd over there knows too, After all he was the one who hired me to fight for him. To bad you didn't let me take command like I demanded, we would have won the war. But no, your arrogance got in the way as did Scarecrow's incompetence and Slade's insistent need to show his superiority to Batman."

"I WANTED BRUCE TO MYSELF!" Jason shouted in a blood rage. "I WAS GOING TO END HIM MY WAY!..."

"Yet you fail. All of your superiors and subordinate failed. Billions of Dollars, Hundreds of Men and Machines, and a super weapon thrown into the wind all for one man to defeat you. Pathetic." Karl returned in a monotone.

Jason threw Harley off of him and charged to strike Karl once more, but Selena stood in his path shielding Karl from another assault. "Hold on bird boy, you hired him to build your army?" Harley asked Jason.

"Build his Army?" Karl chuckled. "No. I fought with him as one of his lieutenants, but was taken out of action after I was attacked by Batman. If I wasn't locked up at GCPD I could have accomplished the mission."

"YOUR MISSION WAS TO HOLD HIM WHILE I WAS ON ROUT!" Jason shouted at the top of his lungs fighting Selena to let him threw.

"My mission was to KILL the Batman. Not HOLD HIM." Karl said firmly. "If you had let me finish my job or at least attack Wayne Manor I could have brought you your long awaited goal. But this is what happens when you let a immature child do a mans job."

Jason threw Selena like a rag doll away from him and into the garage door in his angry assault to attack Karl. Harley acted quickly and drew her baseball bat. Without hesitation she used her acrobatics to intercept the Red Hood and incapacitate him with a quick strike to the sides and skull. Selena laid dazed and confused by the garage door in awe at the power Jason tossed her with. Harley turned to Karl with a cut throat glare the bat pointing at his face.

"Saving me from a Bat reject?" Karl smirks. "Interesting."

"You better start talking before I wake him up." Harley spoke firmly with a solid face.

"Is that a threat?" Karl asks her.

"Completely." Harley replied quickly and coldly. "Tell me what I want to know."

"Why would I? Didn't you hear me before? It's pointless even if I knew anything." Karl replies bluntly.

"If Waller and that Russian want you dead then you obviously know something you shouldn't!" Harley shouts.

"Waller ordered my termination once I defected. And Konev? I don't know. If he's GRU then the Russians want me dead for establishing a free Ukraine from Russian control and If he's a Western Turn coat then his NATO Masters want me dead for freeing Ukraine from Western control. This Konev is a new player for me." Karl replied. "But I have one question for you. Who are the ones you call 'The Patriots?'."

"I'm the one asking the question here bub!" Harley snorted. "Even if they are lookin for you too!"

"So if their looking for me and, I assume you and Selena, Then why kidnap me if we have a common enemy?" Karl asks logically.

"Because we are looking for someone who you would rather kill." Harley snaps. "Why would we work with someone who would harm our goal?"

Her tone shifts between the calm and professional Harleen Quinnzel and the quirkier yet joyful psychopath Harley Quinn. Two minds sharing the same body working together for one goal through opposite means. It was a interesting combination indeed, but Harley was a weakness in Karl's mind. She always had a trouble keeping secrets...

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, yes?" Karl replied. "We are both being hunted by the unknown with no one on our side. Sometimes in the darkest of hours a old enemy becomes a close friend."

"It's going to take more than just that to convince me, Mercenary." She scowls.

"I'll put it this way." Karl says as he feels his restraints loosing giving his hands precious blood flow once more. "I know what happen to Bruce Wayne."

Time seemed to stop as her dreams seemed to come out of the darkness of despair. She turned around to gather her thoughts as they rushed through her mind like lightening electrifying her with hope. ' _Could it be? Is he telling the truth?'_

 _'He can't be. This is Karl Dael we are talking about. He is the scum of the earth. Why would this monster help me at all?'_ Harleen questioned her other side.

' _But out off all da killen and stealin he never did lie to us!'_ Harley retorted. ' _We gotta give him a chance!'_

 _'Why should we?'_ Harleen replied coldly. ' _Giving him a chance invites death. Just look at his own family that he slew in Arkham.'_

 _'Don't cha remember he did it because they were workin for The Wall?!'_ Harley snapped defensively.

 _'That too could be a lie! Why are you defending someone who has tried to kill us for over a year?!'_ Harleen shouted.

 _'BECAUSE WE LOVE A MAN WHO THREW US IN JAIL FOR OVER 7 YEARS!'_

"I take it the news is effecting you rather strongly, yes?" Karl asked, startling her as she sees him free of his bounds.

She draws her pistol, but Karl quickly knocks it out of her hands and dissembles it before she could regain her bearings. With his momentum he pins her to the wall with his hands and legs, "I don't want to harm you, But I won't hesitate if I have to." He says to her face to face.

"Then whats this about big boy?" She asks him in a chuckle.

"You can say we don't really trust each other, yes?" Karl replies. Harley nods. "Then let me show you something that will change that." He releases her hands and takes a more friendly stance. The Black Hunter appeared tired and worn down even more so than usual. His face was ruff and unshaven, eyes tired and baggy, and his smile seemed to fad away the more she looked into his green eyes. He didn't seem like the Hunter she once knew and despised.

He seemed... Different.

He motions with his head for her to follow him. She looks on at her friends as they laid unconscious before her. "They will be fine. Come along Harleen." Karl tells her in a soft voice as he walks out of the garage with Harley reluctantly behind him.

* * *

"Wow..." Harley says in awe at the beauty of the spacious study on the second floor of his home. Oak floors held the weight of four large book cases bursting with novels and historical literature from all corners of the earth. Mounts of big game such as Elk, Mule deer, Antelope, and Buffalo addorn the dark color walls and above the burning fireplace as its fires crackled and clicked below. Pictures of Karl in various countries and armies plastered the walls along with decorations and medals from over fifty counties lead to a massive desk with a even greater window with a complete view of the beauty of the land.

Karl stood by the fire with the poker flipping the logs and flipping the tenders. "Impressive for such a quaint farm house, Eh?"

"Mhmm." Harley agreed as she slowly waltzed toward one of the two leather chairs sitting in front of the fireplace. "So is this the Farm you were talking about when you first met Ivy?"

"The very one." Karl smiles. "I bought it before the first attack on Arkham Asylum. Made the renovations myself with the funds from my contracts in the Balkans."

Harley looks over to the small inn table to her side to see a pack of cigarettes sitting near a bottle of brandy with an ice box and two cups. "Can I have a cigarette?"

Karl turns with a light grin that faded away as quickly as it came. "Sure." He says as he draws a lighter from his pocket to light her cigarette.

Harley offers him one of his own, but he refuses. "I have to quit at some point." He says sleepy as he moves to the ice box to pull two ice cubs from the ice box. "My health is eroding away at a high rate since the loss of my wife. Deployment after Deployment, Contract after Contract, and War after bloody War is finally catching up with me it seems. One of the reasons why I began using Exoskeletons to prolong my body, but even cybernetics and advance technology begins to show its age."

"I guess your not invincible like you think you are, huh?" She says sharply, relishing in his weakness.

"I never said that and I never will." Karl says as he pours himself a stiff drink. "I'm 32 years old with the body of a fit 67 year old man. I've been wounded over fifteen times, shrapnel in my leg, burning scar over my heart, and can barley sleep due to the physical and mental anguish of constant combat. I'm not invincible..." He says as he knocks down the cup in one long gulp.

"Is that defeat I hear in your voice or have you given up?" Harley asks quickly pouring herself her own drink.

A light yet arrogant chuckle escapes Karl's alcohol soaked lips. "Defeated? Giving up? No. I just except my mortality and welcome my inevitable end at the hands of a worthy opponent."

"And who would that be?" Harley asks with ridicule. "Me?"

Karl shakes his head, "No. I don't think of you as an enemy. But that is my business, choosing who is my enemy and who isn't. I will never let someone or something dictate who is the enemy and who is my friend anymore."

"I sense fatalism twined with in your arrogance." Harleen replies in her easy psychiatrist tone. "Arrogance stems from abilities and your own bloated idea of yourself. Pride is one thing, but the idea that you are better than everyone else makes you a ass."

He tips his drink to her in agreement no matter how hurtful it was, but it was true. "Arrogance and the need to prove myself as a young man brought me my victories. But now it's just something to look upon with humble hindsight."

"When did you start becoming humble?" She asks him surprisingly.

"When I realized who I became on the battlefield of Gotham City on 31st October." Karl says as he lights a cigarette. "I came to a realization that night-"

"Cut the crap Karl." She snaps throwing the glass against the ground, shattering it into thousands of pieces. "Tell me what you know about Bruce! What do you know?!"

The passionate fire in her heart consumed her eyes like a wildfire taking over the room itself. Karl could feel a tightness in his chest and lungs as if he was lit on fire, something he could respect coming from Harley Quinn. He took a long drag off his cigarette letting the tobacco take its toll on his lungs and mind as the memories walked out of the darkness of his mind.

"That night I realized what I became, A dog dressed a man. Not a wolf or a hunter as I thought to be, No... The Wolf and The Hunter are nobles, but not I. I am a prisoner of Death and only one man could have freed me from this prison known as reality." Karl continued on as the ash built on his cigarette. "I dropped my rifle and abandon the dogs of war searching for my soul in this city. I couldn't find it... But he found me. I wasn't attacked, but contacted by him. I threw my gun at his feet and told him I couldn't do it anymore. I wouldn't do it anymore. As I looked on at the city skyline all I could see was my own folly, my own failure."

Tears began to stream from his eyes as he continued. "I told him to end me. I simply couldn't deal with the realization. I told him to shoot me in the stomach so I could feel the pain I forced on thousands before me. I needed to know if I still felt pain after all the augmentations, the supernatural power, and the machines. But he threw them into the sewer and told me something that will stay with me forever..."

Harley could feel the pain in his voice and knew it was true. She listened with open ears and heart as he recounted his meeting with Batman. Karl never let his true emotions out to anyone in fear of being seen as weak. But for some reason he felt that this was the time to let the pain go. Something in his heart was telling him to let go...

"But I can't go on like this..." He says dropping the cigarette on the floor scorching the rug as he stands up. He takes her to the desk on the other side of the room and opens the main file cabinet on the lower left. From the cabinet he gave her a file with markings from the Defense Department and A.R.G.U.S.

"D.O.D? A.R.G.U.S?" She reads off the top of the folder before opening. "Waller..."

"Eight years ago Amanda Waller enlisted Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke, to aid her in forming a undercover organization and Black Operations known as Task Force X. That is the easy part of this vast conspiracy. As you know we thought she was dead after the first assault on Arkham Asylum, We were wrong as proven when my late Ivy took over the city. She was working with Gothcorp as apart of Project Seventh Wave, The creation of a full equip army of drones under the command of a single solider. Waller used Slade once more to capture these plans and bring them to her to be used for a specific task she need to carry out. Using proxy arms dealers she sold these weapons to Jason Todd along with laundering confiscated drug money to fund the rest of his army. She knew who Jason Todd was and what he had against Batman. All it took was the right funding to get the plan into motion and pulling the right strings." Karl explained as he pull four more files from his desk.

"When you were with Scarecrow did you ever ask yourself how the rest of the rogues amassed three billion dollars in over a year?" He asked her as he lit another cigarette.

"At the time no." Harley replies as she reads through the documents in awe. "Though I had my thoughts. I worked with him before Scarecrow and Jason came on the scene. Penguin is a rich man, the Cobblepot's have always been gifted with business in some aspects."

"The Black market side of the business world, yes." Karl replied. "But anything outside of the Black Market belongs to the Wayne family. Arms and hired guns are worth their weight in gold, but three Billion dollars is hard to come by in their world. Not to mention the arms and the money, but who gave the Militia the bases to train on in South America? How did they move all the weapons and equipment to and from a Nation that is on the US Governments Black list? Those training bases were CIA Black Sites, Camps where torture of all kinds was practice on who ever the Government decided was expendable. It has her name written in blood all over it."

She threw the papers down and replied, "No way! Waller is crooked and Cruel, but she wouldn't put Americans in danger just to kill Bats. Speaking of which, what's her beef with Batman beside stopping us at Arkham?"

Karl responds with a sad fading chuckle, "Harleen, The Federal Government is the root of all evil and Waller is only one of the many vipers in D.C's snake pit. The Federals only care about lining their pockets and silencing their dissidence. I should know I was a D.C trigger man until I broke bad in North Korea. But I digress and for the sake of our time I implore you to take the documents and leave. Please Harleen, Please I beg of you to take these and leave. Leave while you all still can before they come here."

The desperation in his voice was real and not a ruse like she would expect from a low life like him. But something didn't add up in her mind, why is he giving her this?

"Go." He tells her urgently. "GO!"

He turned his chair toward the large window and for all intense purposes shutting out Harley completely. But Harley never let anyone shut her out and her stubbornness made her stay in that room. It was quiet enough where she could only hear the cracking of the fire and the low breaths of Karl Dael. She began to ponder wither or not she should approach him or not and began scanning the room. All around the table were pictures, pictures in various states of color and condition. Some seemed to be taken in old Black and White cameras and others in modern HD models. Men of almost every nation and even some taken at what seemed the time of the second world war which seemed crazy to her as Karl was to young to have served in that war. A strange Black White and Yellow flag hung on the wall near by. She didn't recognize it at all but assumed it was something worth noting worth.

"What is that?" She asks him with child like curiosity. "The Flag, Where is it from?"

"I said to leave." Karl replies rudely.

"And the soliders. Why are they dressed like Germans?" She asks again getting a better look at the picture.

"I SAID-" He raises his voice only to hear a picture being taken off the wall. Karl quickly turns the chair and leaps to his feet to grab her hands to put the picture back on the wall.

"Why K-man? I just wanna know about ya." Harley says innocently.

It wasn't a lie, He knew her well enough to know when she lies. A long sigh came from his bearded face as he slowly plucked the picture off the wall with her hand in his. Harley couldn't understand what was happening as she felt his hand against hers. She looks at him as he stares at the picture before him. The picture itself was of a young Karl Dael in his early twenties in the uniform of a Staff Sergeant of the Wehrmacht with two soliders, one younger than him and the other much older. The soliders were standing beside a destroyed tank, a Sherman tank, with Karl in the middle with his arms over both of them with a smile. It was strange to see him with a smile, but before she could really take what was happening in front of her she looks over to see Karl's eyes glassed over.

"Who were these guys?" She asks him.

Karl became noticeably quiet for a few moments before putting the picture back on the wall and turning his back toward her, "More people who died because of my recklessness. But no more... Not today... Not ever..."

Harley throws her hand on his shoulder, "What do you mean 'Not ever'?" She asks him with concern, which surprised both of them.

Karl grunts and looks over to the desk.

"No." Harley says as she gets in front of him. "I know what your going to do and you can't."

"Why shouldn't I and why do you of all people care?" He replies sharply.

"Because killing yourself lets her win and your to damn proud to do it." She says firmly to him. "I see the pain in your eyes for all you did in your youth. I can make it all go away just talk to me. I won't tell anyone if you cry."

"I have no more tears to shed." He replies cold, shrugging her off to reach his desk pulling out a M1911. With the .45 in hand he raises it to his head, but Harley pushes it aside from his head and raps herself around him locking his arms to his side in a bear hug.

"No!" She screams. "Stop! You can't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?!" He shouts back loud enough to wake the dead.

With in moments of the shouting Jason and Selena broke through the door with guns in hand loaded and ready to take him down. Karl acted quickly and took Harley hostage. Jason and Selena stood fast and held their ground taking precise aim on Karl's head.

"DROP IT PIG!" They yelled as they brandished their weapons at him. Harley struggled to break free, but Karl was to strong for her.

"On three..." He whispers to her as Jason Todd's trigger fingers were on the brink of sending a .50 caliber action express hollow point bullets through his body.

Harley could feel his grip easing off of her and with in a split second he fired tree bullets at Jason and Selena. The bullets flew into the barrels of their sidearms destroying them instantly. In the shock of the attack Karl slung Harley over his shoulders and escaped through the large window behind his desk. Landing on his feet, Karl began running at high speeds toward the front of the home toward the trail leading to the Kamov.

"Boss!" Ricky shouted from the front porch smoking a pipe idly in a wicker chair.

"Get to the Kamov NOW!" He shouted without hesitation as he ran harder and harder to the chopper. Ricky followed close behind as best as he could as Jason and Selena used their acrobatic to catch up to them.

Jason and Selena were fast, but not fast enough to catch them. Karl threw Harley aboard the Kamov and quickly jumped into the pilots chair and began prepping for launch. Ricky jumped on the PKM and began laying down a thick wall of suppressing fire to stall Jason and Selena. The rotors came to life tossing dirt and rocks into the air around them and blinding Jason and Selena as it levitated off the ground and toward the wild blue sky. Ricky kept up the fire on the two heroes below until the chopper was over the treeline and heading Northwest.

Ricky threw on a flight CVC and handed one to Harley. She quickly took the microphone and began cursing and swearing at Karl to explain what that was all about.

"I agreed to your mission, but I didn't think you would agree to my conditions." Karl replies handing over the chopper to Ricky. "I don't trust Todd and I already had a miss trust for Selena, I never trust thieves."

"What makes you trust me?" Harley asks him as she takes a seat.

"You saved my life and I owe you for it." Karl replies as he takes a seat across from her. "You saved my life and you gave Ivy someone to love. Now it's my turn to return the favor."

"You mean?-"

"Yes." Karl replies firmly. "We will find him, but first we must visit a friend of ours."

"Who?" She asks.

"Enigma."


	5. Chapter 5: Ghost

_**Sorry for the long wait, I've been in the field training for the last few weeks. Enjoy this piece**_

 _ **With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

 ** _28 miles from Washington DC:_**

The Subways at the capitol were a ageing network of railways built during the psychedelic years of the 1970's. It amazed Karl that these Subways were still running after the economic collapse of the Obama depression. Everything in this country was falling apart since the end of the Cold War and the Proxy Wars in Korea, Syria, and Ukraine didn't help the situation either. The States were in bad shape from the 'Long War', The Crusades in the Middle East and the bloody stalemates in Asia and Ukraine. The infrastructure was crumbling from the roads and bridges to the sidewalks and alleyways.

Karl has visited the Nation's capital many times in his years as a Mercenary for Gigagen, Coldwater, and Task Force X. He always associated the city with sorrow.

Every time he came to this city all he saw was suffering.

On the streets...

In the buildings...

And on the Papers signed by the most powerful men and women on earth.

Homeless on every street, Urban plight, and crime in the streets of the Capital of the Western World.

From a secluded plot on the very outskirts of the District of Columbia they hide the Kamov and dawned civilian cloths to blend in with the people. It was hard for Harley to conform to the cloths of a normal person until Harleen took over. Harleen threw her hair into a long pony tail and dawned a pair of blue jeans with black dress boots and a long sleeve top. It was cold this time of year in Maryland as Autumn became Winter. Karl threw on jeans and combat boots with a black button up covered by a black leather jacket to keep him warm. But after walking a few miles to the nearest gas station he gave her the jacket to keep her warm and later bought her a red scarf to keep the nipping winds from chaffing her pretty face. They stole a old pickup truck and headed south to DC but abandoned the vehicle once reaching a metro station so they could blend in with the locals once they reached the city.

Sitting on the cold seats of the Metro train brought Harley to ease both on her feet and her soul. The Subway ride reminded her of her youth in Brooklyn riding the Subway to school and else where with her friends and family. Screeching rails and the thunder of the train in a tunnel brought a smile to her face and briefly took her off guard just enough for her to close her eyes for a little nap.

Karl on the other hand sat wide eyed and ever vigilant with the Colt 1911 hidden but accessible enough to deal with any threat that my come by. He wasn't tired and even if he was he wouldn't let anyone see it. It was a skill taught to him by countless men and women of Valor and Disdain through out his life. Never show emotion, Good, bad, Sadness, Weakness, or otherwise to the enemy or his friends. This skill was what made him an enigma to those around him. But as time went on he, gifted or cursed with the power of Self-Analysis, began to view his skill to be nothing more than desensitization. He just didn't care anymore for anyone or anything or even himself. All that matters is the mission and his drive to complete his mission.

But is it worth it?

The train rocked side to side and the sleeping Harley fell on his shoulder. Karl pushed her back to her spot, but the train rocked again and again until he began tolerating the slumbering psychopath drooling on her shoulder. The clown princess of crime, one of Gotham's most dangerous criminals and notorious murders, is asleep like a baby on his shoulder. The mire thought of her sleeping on him made him laugh, but the sight of it was hilarious.

He tried to laugh, but he held it back. He had to. He hasn't earned the privilege of laughter.

The Black Hunter only sat motionless as he observed the people around him, their movements, their body language, and their eyes. The Human eye has six movements for motive and fifteen variations of the six as Slade taught him long ago. The eyes of a man or a woman are windows to the soul and to their mind. A veteran con artist can easily be seen as the con that he is by his pupils. Any man can lie but your eyes will always tell the truth.

All around him their were people of every color, creed, age, and class on the train were busy doing whatever their smartphones and tablets want them to, taking care of little kids, sleeping, or idle chit chat. Nothing worth noting, but he still kept his guard up. From his seat he could see eight or nine youths spreed out throughout the train hiding weapons under their cloths.

"Heh." He chuckled under his breath. "I remember when I got my first blade and .22. Kids these days..."

A tight grip around his arm broke his attention as Harley cuddled his left arm with a slight smirk, "Bruce..." She mutters in her slumber.

"Ugh..." Karl snorted with disdain. Yet he couldn't bring himself to shrug her off. It would have been rude too and having her on his arm kept the thugs away. Thugs were never as tough as they looked no matter who they were or where they were from and always stayed away from a man that would easily fuck them up.

His blue tooth rang but didn't break his concentration of the world around him.

"Go ahead."

"It's Me." Ricky's voice replied over the bluetooth. "I'm at the rendezvous. Are you on route?"

"Yes. ETA 15 mikes." Karl replies quickly. "Enigma deliver the package?"

"Roger." Ricky Confirmed. "Via Courier, as usual, Coward. Said he was still locked up with in GCPD. The Courier said it was because he couldn't coup with being wrong and has dedicated his life to revealing the 'True Identity' of the Dark Knight."

"Arrogance." Karl replies. "Roger. Out."

Things were going smoothly and it unnerved him beyond all comprehension. Everything since his arrival at the capital was going according to plan, nothing ever goes according to plan ever. EVER. His mind was on full power scanning around him looking for possible agents or the slightest sign of the Red Hood, Catwoman, or anything labeled as a threat to him.

Then the sleeping Harlequin let out a cute sigh as she cuddled closer to him and laying her head on his lap. His heart melted under the weight of her body and the slow beat of her heart.

A long sigh escaped him as he looks down briefly at the sleeping Harley. The long golden hair flowed in the draft of the metro beautifully into his free hands. Karl wanted to reject it, but his heart wouldn't let him. He would never admit this to anyone, but Harley reminded him of Dusk, His long passed wife, or at least Harleen did. Harleen shared the rough and hard side that Dusk showed to those around her, a tough girl image that protected her from the world around her. But deep down she was just a scared girl who wanted a hero to save her from the darkness around her. Harleen and Harley were just like her, albeit Harley was more joyful and was mentally insane. She didn't have the black eyes of his wife, but her smile and some of her quirks reminded him of her.

"I can't let them get to you like they did to her..." He whispers to her as the train passed through a long dark tunnel under the city. "I can't afford to lose you like I lost her."

A raven haired woman with deep emerald eyes appeared across from him. He didn't second guess her identity for he knew her all to well. Her energy consumed the metro car and only one woman could do that...

"Claudia..." Karl spoke as he cocked the hammer back on the .45 Automatic in his jacket. She switches seats quickly and throws her hand over his to keep the pistol in his jacket.

"Calm down." She whispers as she brushes her hair out of her face. Her voice was calm and the slight Cajun French ascent haunted him deeply. The Woman is Claudia Marlin, A Sorceress, Paranormal Specialist, and Close friend of Karl Dael during his past. Claudia wore long black coat that drooped past her knees with high heeled black leather boots with the tops folded over. A checkered blue and white scarf covers her ghostly face along with gloves leaving only her eyes in view. Under her coat he could see the distinct grip and lower end of a Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver under her right arm and a large ceremonial occult dagger under the other. The coat was closed and she could only see the dagger and revolver, but he could only assume she had something heavier on her belt. Maybe a poison? A drug? A toxin?

"I know It's been to long," She says as she takes her seat. "One? Two? Three? Maybe four or so years?"

"Five years." Karl replies coldly, His hand slowly releasing his grip on the pistol. "Twenty seven weeks. Seventy Two Hours. Eleven Seconds."

"Exact, as usual." She chuckles.

"Who sent you?" He asks her bluntly.

"Oooh.. Your a little harder than the last time I saw you. Where did I leave you and my girls last?" Claudia asks him.

She could easily tell the question was ripping through his strong outward appearance down to the core. It was dangerous to pick into Karl's past, especially this brazen. Karl was, and still is, a hot head and picking into his past was something that set him off rather quickly. Karl let out a long deep growling breath with his reply, "Metropolis."

"It was? Huh." She replies quietly. "You find your man or woman?"

"What do you think?" He growls.

She replies only with a enlighten expression. "What do you want? You here to get your revenge, Because if you are, you took long enough."

"Why would I?" Claudia replies as she reveal her face to him with a weak smile. "Why would I need Revenge either? The corpses of Ra's, Talia al Ghul, and the countless others can never ease the pain of losing my daughters." Claudia was the Surrogate Mother for his wife and her friends. She only had one genetic daughter, Sally, but she too was killed during the Terrorist attack in Metropolis five years ago by Red Claw, A terror group sponsored by The League of Assassins.

Karl tried to hold back the rage, frustration, and guilt. The task was near to impossible with a living example of his failure sitting right in front of him and on his lap.

Claudia could read him like a book just by his gaze alone. From his gaze she looked toward his hands and saw them holding the sleeping Harley Quinn protectively.

 _'Hmmm... He's forgotten what I told him. Living to Forget is the only path for someone like us, Wolves walking on twos...'_

 _"_ Nothing will ever ease the pain." Karl told her darkly as he looks down at a sleeping Harley Quinn as she began to awaken. "It holds on to us like a vise. Only letting go when death comes calling for you."

"Or are you holding on to it?" Claudia replies as the train pulled out of the tunnel.

Karl began a response only to be met by nothing. She was gone.

Harley yawned and rubbed her eyes as she awoke. The amber city light illuminated the cabin as Harley stretches her arms and legs, "Did I?.." She asks as the sight of her blonde hair on Karl's lap.

"Yes and It's fine." Karl replied quickly as he slowly began to process what just happen. "It's... Fine."

"Okkie dokkie then." Harley replies awkwardly as the train came to a slow halt at the station.

The two exited the metro and walked off the platform toward a parking lot where a black Lincoln continental awaited them with a suit and tie clad Ricky Larson at the wheel.

"Took you long enough Boss." Ricky replied as they enter the large car.

"Shut up." Harley replied as Karl closed the door.

"Save the pleasantries for a better time." Karl interjected. "Talk to me about the package."

Ricky shifts into gear and the large town car lurches forward onto the dark snow covered streets of the Capitol. "The package contained two Department of Defense ID's. Both of whom are apart of DARPA, Defence Advance Research Projects Agency."

"DARPA?" Harley asks. "What do they do?"

"Construct Super Weapons." Karl replies, "The Legal ones at least. How did Riddler get a hold of them? Never mind. I shouldn't ask."

"I'm not asking either." Ricky agreed. "The Courier was on edge, to much for my taste, but he gave us what we wanted. But I don't know. These ID's have to be a clue to where Bruce is."

"Might be." Karl replied as he lite another cigarette nervously. It didn't settle with him at all. Riddler usually hired shady people as it was but if it gave Ricky, a kid raised on the ruff and tough streets of Gotham, a second guess then he had better adhere to the warning. "But how do we know if this isn't a trap?"

"Uhhh guys..." Harley interjected as the blinding off road lights of heavy all terrain vehicles floods the cabin of the car. "We got company!"

A large Mercedes G63 6x6 slams into the rear of the large Lincoln continental nearly throwing them off the road. Two more appeared from seemingly know where and began ramming into them as well.

"SHIT! HOLD ON!" Ricky shouts as he slams the peddle to the floor.


	6. Chapter 6: Call Back

_**Sorry once again for the wait, I've been short of time because of training. Here's the next chapter and please enjoy. Next chapter will have Bruce and Harley bits. It takes time and I refuse to rush the story because of it.**_

 ** _Oh and to whoever reviewed one of my stories awhile back talking about how I have no talent because I put French and Afrikaner words into my story, Fuck off and get an account so you can show me your writing abilities if your so good._**

 ** _~Dresner_**

* * *

 ** _Undisclosed Location: 0101 Hours_**

"Do you remember?" Konev asked the battered and beaten Bruce Wayne who was bound to a steel chair in chains with a shock collar around his neck. "Who you are? What you were meant to do?"

Bruce sat still as he could as the Russian circles him. For over a month Bruce was put under forms of torture not seen since the days of the Bolsheviks Checka, Stalin's NKVD, or the latest acts of brutality by the American CIA, both physical and mental. Bruce Wayne trained himself to restraint multiple forms of torture and truth serums, but Konev's forms of torture were becoming more intense and differed every day, never using the same technique twice. His body was cut, bruised, battered, and broken from the torture. Broken ribs and arm only barley treated by a medic, smashed fingers and toes, missing teeth either punched or ripped out with pliers, cigar and cigarette burns litter his body, and cuts from knives cover his face and neck.

But his mind would not break...

"Bruce?" He asks Bruce as he circles him. "Are you there? Or have you given up on me and our organization?"

"Go. To. Hell." Bruce bellows, spewing blood out of his battered face and busted lips.

Konev strikes him with a swift round house kick to the jaw. Bruce is thrown to the floor in a puddle of his own blood and water. Konev picks him up and asks him again.

"Do you remember?"

"Remember what?" Bruce asks his interrogator.

"DO YOU REMEMBER WHY HE CAME TO GOTHAM?!" Konev explodes. "YOU KNOW WHY BECAUSE YOUR SATELLITES MONITOR EVERY ONE OF YOUR ENEMIES AND ALLIES!"

"I don't know why he came to Gotham." Bruce replies.

"Don't lie to me Bruce." Konev tells him, closing in on him until they were face to face. "I've seen your files on him, on everyone you have encounter in your life as Batman. We've always had a mole in your network, Jason Todd, and he feed us all the information we needed. But some of the files he could not get a hold of so easily. Tell me what I want to know and I will call all of this mess off. Tell me why the Hunter came to Gotham. What is his motivation?"

The slamming of a prison door broke his focus as his ally and boss, Amanda Waller, escorted by his own GRU Spetsnaz Paratroopers at her side. "Konev." She says with disgust. "Back away from Wayne. It's time for another treatment. The Subjects require it."

The GRU soldiers look to their commander for approval to which he casts a jaundice eye to the wild boar like figure of Amanda Waller and then to the defeated Bruce Wayne. The experiments and torture sickened him as they drew on to their second month. Why does she need him again? But he remembers his mission and reluctantly gives the go ahead to his soliders to drag the Dark Knight to the surgeons table once more.

Waller watches with a cold glare as the tan uniform clad soliders dragged her most formidable foe to the R&D department in the lower levels of the base.

As the soliders disappeared into the darkness, Waller drew her attention to the GRU Major.

"Why are you here?" Waller asks him bluntly. "Your part in the project is nearing its conclusion and your men have yet to provide the results I want."

"GRU has their reasons for sending me and my Soldiers to your country." Konev replies in a cold and calculating tone. "Mother Russia demands Karl Dael's head for slaughtering her troops in Ukraine. The blood of my comrades are on his hands and Moscow demands his capture."

"Nationalism." Waller scoffs. "A petty and archaic concept. Another divide between our nations. Russia has nothing to be proud of, after all it was your Motherland that lost the Cold War. America's set back in Ukraine we're not the cause of this man because our attention is directed toward a threat to not only the national security of the United States, but the world itself."

"Another excuse by a fading world power." Konev retorts. "Just like Rome you will be crushed under the weight of your own decadence. We know your country is in the middle of a crushing depression and your imperialist wars are draining your ever dwindling resources. The Soviet Union may have lost the Cold War, but the Federation will out last your United States regardless of whatever fictional enemy you have created."

Waller simply laughs off Konev remarks, no matter how right he was. Waller knew of the corruption with in the Russian Government as well as her own Government. Her words were simply the tired rhetoric of the Cold War Warriors of the Department of Defense, the Progressive Elite, and the 60's retreads of the Second Clinton administration. She could careless about the Government or its ideals, what mattered to her was to protect the country and not its government, Like the true Patriot she was.

Konev held back his anger from unleashing itself on Waller for insulting his beloved Motherland. The Grach pistol on his side began to feel heavy in its holster, but he couldn't let his pride get in the way of his mission.

"Tell me about Wayne." Konev demands, changing the subject. "Wayne broke contact with Dael before the Arkham Knight Insurrection. Why is he here?"

"Would you prefer for me to explain?" She smirks smugly, "Or would you prefer for me to show you when our guests arrive from the Capital?"

* * *

 ** _Washington D.C:_**

Karl took the wheel from Ricky as gun fire and screeching tires broke the silence of the streets of Washington D.C as the large Lincoln car screamed through the streets.

"I need more bullets Ricky!" Harley shouted as her MAC-10 clicked instead of banged.

Ricky ripped open the seat with a combat knife revealing a stash of magazines for her MAC and his compact M4A1 assault rifle. She loaded another magazine as bullets zipped pasted their heads and ripped through the car.

"Engine block! Engine block!" Karl shouted as heavily armored G63 Mercedes trucks rammed the large car. Ricky and Harley returned fire as best as they could as the car surfs through the streets and toward the Jefferson memorial. Crossing the Potomac river they could see the memorial racing closer to them. The G63's began to fall behind the tank like Lincoln. Harley and Ricky continued to fire wildly out the shattered windows of the car until the lights of the truck disappeared behind them.

"They're backing off Boss!" Ricky shouted with glee as he loaded another magazine into his Carbine. Harley cheered briefly until another set of lights blinded the car as the sight of a helicopter took their attention away from another G63 in the other lane. The G63 side swiped the car and sent it spinning out into a small patch of trees near the Jefferson memorial. The car flew through the woods bouncing against the trees like a basket ball until rolling on its roof in the middle of the great field in front of the memorial.

All was black for her...

The crash left her laying on the roof of the upside down car covered in blood from the hail storm of glass and wood flying into the car as it rolled. She ran her hand through her hair only to feel her once beautifully golden hair drenched in blood and glass. More blood rains down upon her as the sight of Ricky's body impaled to the seat with a large tree branch.

"Ricky..." She whispers silently to herself mournfully. Ricky was once apart of her gang in Arkham City, a rather obscure kid from the rest of the thugs and murders in her group. But what really made him stand out was how he cared for her and she always remembered that.

Lights flooded the area in and around the car as six G63's with .50 Caliber machine guns and heavily armed troops circled the car. Harley looked outside of the car to see Karl being restrained and beaten by more of those Russians they encountered at the farm.

A chopper hovered above them, but unlike the soliders brandishing high tech Russian arms, this chopper was American...

Karl looks passed the blood in his eyes to see the American Chopper landing close to them. The Chopper is a UH-60, the ubiquitous blackhawk of the US Military, with no markings. The chopper touched down and with in seconds he was drug to the feet of a large figure clad in Orange and black body armor.

"Slade..." Harley whisper to herself until she was dragged kicking and screaming from out of the car.

"I never expected to see you working with my student." Slade remarks as the Russians threw her to his feet.

"Fuck you Grandpa!" She shouted in defiance.

Slade's hand rose into the air to strike Harley, but a effeminate hand latches onto his wrist and holds it back.

"No." A calm and cold voice. "We need the both of them to complete the project."

A figure, a female, could be seen behind Slade's shadow. She was Harley's height and body type, but her motions and body language spoke the tongue of Batman.

"Claudia?" Karl asked the figure behind his teacher.

The Woman threw a knife into Karl's stomach in response as he growled in pain. A light chuckle erupted from Slade's right as a large muscular man stepped into the light. He was blonde with blue eyes, like Harley's, and strongly resembled Bruce Wayne.

"Don't be such a Sour Kraut!" The man chuckled.

"Bruce?" Harley asks the sadistic man.

"Close." The man replies as the woman steps into the light. Raven black hair complimented her dark eyes along with her cold expression and it left Harley nearly speechless.

"But no cigar."

"You!..." Harley gasps in astonishment. "You look just like me!"

Deathstroke stomps her in the face, shutting her up before Harley could reply. Karl nearly blacks out before Slade removes the knife from his stomach.

"Patch him up and prep him for the surgery." Slade orders the Russians as they pump him with a needle. "Waller wants him alive."


	7. Chapter 7: Seventh Wave

_**Hey guys, sorry for no updating as quickly as I use to. Things have came up on my end and time is becoming harder and harder to come by. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. The next one will be better I promise. I don't know about this story's quality but I think it is on par with my last few works. BTW: Keep your negative comments to yourself. If you have something constructive to say then say it, don't be a fucker. Ok?**_

 _ **Thanks.**_

 _ **With Love~ Dresner**_

* * *

She awoke to a cold damp floor. All was dark beside the faint amber light slipping through the slits in the window of a large iron door. This wasn't the first time she woke up in a cell before, even a cell as dunging like as this one. But unlike any other cell, including Arkham, she had a friend...

Heavy coughing echoed through cell alerting her to another poor soul trapped with her. "Who?... Who are you?..." A familiar voice asked blindly into the dark.

"Bruce?" Harley replies.

"Harley?"

It was him... Bruce...

She crawls to the light but she soon found herself bound by chains and shackles around her wrists and ankles. Her struggling pleads drew him out of the shadows into the faint light of the door. He was beaten, battered, and bludgeoned, but under the dried blood and dirt was her lover Bruce Wayne. "Bruce!" She cries with tears

"Harley!" Bruce cries back as their shackles cut into their skin.

"Bruce!..." She replies as she falls to the floor in a puddle of tears

"Harley..." Bruce says in a weak tone as he coughs two of his teeth on the floor.

"Bruce..." She replies as she reaches out to grab his hand once more. The walls seemed to close all around her and the light slowly began to fad as she struggled to hold his hand once again as if he was the only thing that would bring her into the light just like before. With all her energy she reached out until she could feel the shackles cut and rub into her skin until blood began to seep from her ankles and wrists. His hand was only centimeters from hers as the echoing creeks of the iron door released the entrapped light behind it illuminating everything around them. A tall figure walks toward them with two more close behind him. Her hand barley graces her lovers palm as a strong boot hits her across the face like a express train. Bruce and herself were restrained by two Bruce like figures in black coats, while the third, a Harley like figure, lording over them.

"Take the Man to Waller and the woman to Lennox." She barks as they drive large syringes into their necks. "He wants to chat with her before..."

All went black once again, but before she completely lost consciousnesses she heard Bruce whisper "I love you Harleen..."

"I love you too, Bruce..."

 _ **Much Later...**_

Tobacco smoke fills her nose and burns her eyes as she awoke on a hand cart bound in a straitjacket and muzzled. One of the Bruce figures pushes the cart while a knockoff of Harley walks in front of them with a MP-5 SMG slung on her back talking to a tall man in a long black coat and military cap.

"Bosnia, Croatia, Tunisia, Iran, Cuba, and even Israel." The figure told the woman with the gun, "Those are only a few. I've been in over thirty or so countries before the force. I can thank Madam Marlin and the Order for that matter. But soon my journey will be over thanks to Amanda. Tonight it all ends here."

"Why do I care, Dael?" The woman replied rudely.

Karl Dael... Fucking traitor... Harley groaned with rage under the coat and muzzle. Only to be answered by the butt-stock of the twin Harley with the Machine Gun.

"Shut up." The Twin shouted.

Karl smirks and continues to walk with them, "You should care. I'm your creator, Remember?"

"Fuck off." The twin replied. Karl struck her with the side of his Mauser pistol and shot her seconds later. Killing her instantly.

Harley shrikes as he points the pistol at her face and pulls the trigger. To her surprise she was still alive as the smell of gun powder and blood filled her nostrils. "Ungrateful children." He says with disgust. "I never liked rude people."

Karl walks behind the hand cart and begins to push her down the hallway. "Sorry about the mess. I try to keep the base as clean as I can, but sometimes you have to take out the trash."

They reached a elevator moments later and down they went until reaching the bottom with four more twins of Herself and Bruce greeted them with guns shouldered. Beyond the gun toting knock offs was Amanda Waller and Slade Wilson standing together by a bound Bruce Wayne.

"Lennox. You finally decided to join us." Slade welcomed him as Karl pushes Harley toward them.

"What were my instructions about deposing of the subjects?" Waller asks him with poison in words.

"Don't?" Karl replies as he reaches the bound Bruce and begins to take the muzzle off of Harley.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON! WHAT THE.." Karl re-muzzles her.

"My apologizes." Karl says as he leans in to latch the muzzle to her face. " _Stay calm. You'll get your revenge... Maybe..."_ He whispers to her.

"Keep the clown quiet." Slade orders him.

"The muzzle can only do so much." Karl says smartly. "Don't you remember her history? The Arkham doc's weren't exactly keen on human rights or ethical treatment of it's inmates."

"Convicts do not deserve ethical treatment or mercy, especial the Joker's former Whore." Slade replies coldly.

Waller nods and turns to Bruce Wayne. "Neither do you Batman. But I can't dispose of either of you. Not while Seventh Wave is still in its infancy."

"Infancy?" Karl questions her. "How? The first batch were successful and could have aided me in Arkham City last year. But you sent me with those mercs."

"Hugo Strange's research on mental manipulation you recovered was one more step to completion of the project. But due to your execution of Dr. Strange and your failure to secure the location of the League of Assassins set it back over a year." Waller countered. "Luckily you have found another way to prove your worth."

"It wasn't easy bringing him to the base." Karl replies. "Knocked out a few of Konev's men and gave a few others broken ribs and legs. I'm glad he refuses to kill a man. Would have made the Op even more of a pain than it already was."

"The research along with samples from Quinn have corrected this." Slade added. "Bringing the rest of the samples has also earned you a raise. Expect it in your account."

"I didn't bring you these two for money." Karl replies with disgust.

"I know." Waller replies as she cleans the blood from Bruce's face.

"Now that we have the loaners. I want my-"

"You'll get it once you finish your mission." Waller said as Slade draws his long barreled Desert Eagle handgun and aims for Karl's head.

"What are you talking about Waller?" Karl demands to know.

"I'm not finished with you, not just yet." Waller explains. "Seventh Wave needs one more subject for completion."

 _Clones?_ Harley thought to herself as the clones closed in with weapons at the ready.

Karl stares evilly at Slade and Waller, "Your going against our deal, you know this."

Waller didn't care, she never did. "Fight or Flight, It doesn't matter. All I need is your genes to complete my work, wither your alive or dead. Now be a good solider and bring Quinn and Wayne to the chamber for final perpetration."

"Go to hell." Karl replies before a clone of Harley rifle butts him in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.

The clones take the three deeper into the base. Harley assumed it was underground due to it's size and lack of out going entrances. More clones appeared as they drew closer and closer to this 'Chamber'. Slade removes the muzzle from Harley's face, "Scream if you like. No one will hear you."

"Go. To. Hell. Slade." Bruce replies tiredly coughing up blood.

"Good morning Mr. Wayne." Waller says joyfully. "I hope Lady Shiva wasn't to rough with you. After all, you failed to protect their second in command."

"Fuck off Waller." Harley hissed.

Slade smacks Harley across the face with his gun, "Quiet."

"Make me!" Harley counters childishly. "Oh wait! You already did!"

Waller laughs, "Excuse me?"

"Ya heard me!" Harley shouts, "That creep Karl, Taking Bruce, and the fucking clones!"

"Clone?" Waller turns and asks her. "These are not mire clones, replicas of the legend. No... These are the next step in evolution. To use the word 'Clones' is slander for these of modern science. There is only one word to describe these men and women: Soldiers."

"Soldiers?" Harley and Bruce asks together.

"Yes, Soldiers." Waller confirms. "Soldiers created by genes, a pure breed of fighters like that of the Spartans."

"Imposs-" Bruce begins before looking over at a Raven haired Harley emulation.

"Anything is possible, Mr. Wayne." Slade replies. "In this day and age cutting edge technology will create advances that only the most simple of the human genome can only call magic. These soliders are not just carbon copies of you and Quinn, these are your children. The Cadmus R&D department harvested eggs from Quinn and DNA from you to produce the first wave of the children. Using the Super Baby Method we weeded out the weak from the strong."

"But waiting twenty or more years to reach maturity proved fruitless." Waller explains. "Something was needed to speed up the growth of the children and Karl Dael found it in the research of Dr. Young, Titan. Titan, by itself in a full grown human, causes the body to go through extreme and painful physical metamorphosis. Turning the user into a over grown monster with nothing but the primal mind to guide them. To put the Titan formula inside of an infant would prove disastrous. Cadmus engineers began researching into program that made Slade Wilson who he is today. With some minor modifications to both the formula and the Adrenalin enhancement it tamed the formula to only allow the user, IE the Children, To grown to the form of a full grown adult at peak physical conditioning. But the children were not easy to control due to their uncontrollable rage, a side effect of increased Adrenalin glans. Mr. Dael pulled through once again by providing Cadmus with Hugo Strange's mind control process and giving us the final piece to completing the final wave of the children..."

The hallway expands to reveal three large containment tanks full of water with hoses and I.V's leading to harnesses at the center of the tanks.

"They are not your clones, Cheap copies of the original. But, The next evolution, your sons and daughters. It is this generation of heroes that will bring the United States of America back to its rightful place as the dominate superpower. Today, Seventh Wave will be completed." Waller says triumphantly as Bruce is held at gun point by Slade as the Seventh Wave emulations release Harley from her bondage.

She looks over to Slade as he pushes the barrel of his Desert Eagle against Bruce's temple. "Try me", Slade's expression said to her from across the floor. The career mercenary was thirsty for revenge for the two defeats the Dark Knight inflected on him years before. But he held his lust for revenge at bay. After all, Waller must have a heavy payment coming his way after this.

"How much is she paying you cyclopes?" Harley insults him.

"Enough to keep you three alive." Slade spat.

The emulations pushed her forward with MP-5's at the ready. They were copies of her minus the blonde hair and blue eyes. The hair was black and the eyes were brown, just like Bruce. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful her 'Children' were no matter how sicking it was to admit that they were related to her.

"Go!" One shouts to her.

"What do you need us for?" Harley demands from Waller as the emulations forced her to one of the tanks.

"We need a steady supple of DNA and Genes to keep Seventh Wave alive." Waller replies with a evil smirk. "Why not own the market? Don't you agree?"

Harley's disgust began to rise as she looks over at Karl as they put him in his own tank. "Your Harvesting us... And him? What is he for?"

"Solider Genes." Waller admits frankly. "Mr. Dael's DNA contains a gene that is only found in less than 3% of the human population: The Solider Gene. It's name sake comes from warriors, a gene that allows for its barer to flow with the tide of battle, to read the battlefield, and the follow the gospel of violence. The genes of a true Solider. We need his genes to complete Seventh Wave."

Harley could feel her guts churning as the thought of her genes mixing with the likes of him, even though it was just a over sized science fair project. They locked Karl into the harness and began hooking him up with a mix of I.V's, wires, and a oxygen mask. Once he was connected they shut the door and moved on to Bruce. Harley closes her eyes as they struggled to put Bruce into the vat of wires and water. The emulations forced the mask on his face and began forcibly inserting the wires and needles into his body. It was the first time Bruce ever screamed in pain to anyone...

Harley closed her eyes and tried to tune out the screams, but it was to much for her. She tried to escape the platform to save Bruce, but the emulations struck her with their weapons and forced her into the tank. Harley struggles against her captures as they tried to put the mask around her face. "NO!" She screams wildly, water sucking into her lungs as they tired pushing the mask on her face.

The emulations pushed her into the water to much, letting more and more water into her lungs drowning her almost with only brief breaths of air as she pushes herself up to the surface of the tank...

But she grew weak even with adrenaline pumping through her veins. The Emulations forced the mask on her face and began hooking her up with the wires and I.V's just like Bruce and Karl. The pain couldn't be described with in her broken mind. It was nothing she ever endured in Arkham...

It all began to fade to black in her mind as the sight of the doppelgangers began to slowly disappear into silence and darkness. Waller had won and now Bruce, Karl, and Herself were to be tools in her new grand project.

She blinks for a second to see them shut the door on her and then...

* * *

Then she finds herself laying on a white leather jacket looking to the endless ceiling above. "W-W-W Where?-"

"Harley?" The voices of Catwoman and Jason Todd gasp from outside her eyes. She sits up and looks over at the smashed tanks and bloody corpses of the emulations laying on the ground around them. "Harley," Catwoman says, "Your alive!"

"Surprising." Jason replies with Bruce propped up against a railing. "I knew the old man would live through that hell Waller put him through."

"Fuck off." Harley replies as she knocks him aside to embrace Bruce.

Bruce embraces Harley in his arms for the first time in what seemed to be millennial. "Harley..." Bruce whispers in her ear.

"Bruce..." She returns as she moves closer to him. "Please talk to me... Please... Say something to ease the pain..."

"I'm not a very good talker..." Bruce replies with a ghostly smirk.

"Me either." Harley says as she kisses him softly. The kiss became harder and longer as the two locked lips in warm embrace in the facility until they were forced to break the kiss after nearly sucking the air out of each others lungs.

Selena smiles while Jason roles his eyes. But he puts his hatred for Quinn behind him once more, "You can finish after we get out of the circle. Come on you two."

"Circle?" Bruce asks his form ward. "You don't mean-"

"Yes." Selena confirms. "We are twenty miles from the Arctic circle near Greenland and Canada."

"The Mountain." A Russian voice replied from the darkness. Konev, The Russian Agent allied with Waller who took Selena hostage some time ago. "A C.I.A black site built into a mountain before the end of the Cold War. Cadmus turned this place into a play ground for which they could play god. Disgusting."

"Missed a spot, Eh Jason?" Harley taunts Jason as she rises to her feet only to collapse.

Konev smirks as his troops come out of the darkness. They wore heavy body armor with face masks and exoskeletons packing Chinese made QBZ-95 bullpup assault rifles. "Mr. Todd did not and Neither did the Order."

"The Order?" Bruce asked Konev as he tried to get to his feet. But he was to weak and fell to the floor before the Russian and his soliders.

"No time to explain." Jason replies as he picks Bruce off the ground. "We have to get you to the Plane and get you to the medics. You too Quinn."

Harley stands up and looks around at the destroyed vats to see Karl's smashed to atoms with a trail of blood leading out of the chamber. "Where is he?" She asks fearfully. "WHERE IS HE?!"

"We don't know." Selena replies. "Konev brought us here shortly after a alert drove all of Waller's goons to this place. We thought we found you a few sections back along with Bruce... What were those people? Clones?"

"Our Children..." Harley replies ghostly as she stares at the blood trail. "Waller. Slade. Where are they?"

"Slade is gone, Escaped during our breaching effort." Konev explains. "Waller is in our hands and is now in containment on my aircraft. Dael is still abroad."

"Why haven't you found him yet?!" Harley screams at the Russian. "He created these... These... These monsters! These carbon copies of us and brought us here to be harvested! He took Bruce from me... And I want to know why..."

Konev smirks and motions for Jason and Selena to come with him. "Then find him."


	8. Chapter 8: Salvation

_**Happy New Year guy and gals, I bring you one of the last chapters of the DNA series. I know that it's a long one and I hope you all like it.**_

 _ **With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Konev, his men, Selena, and Jason escorted Bruce safely out of the Chamber to a aircraft located somewhere outside. Harley prayed that Selena and Jason knew what they were doing and that Konev was indeed on their side. It didn't make any sense at all to her why the Russian would be on their side after all the hell Karl caused for his country. She over heard him talking about a debt Karl owned to Russia and that it needed to be paid in his blood, but the solider of his didn't seem to be Russian or even regular soliders.

Something wasn't right about all this. But she couldn't put her finger on it. She didn't have the energy to think about it.

She only had the energy, The focus, The lust to finally put Karl Dael on his death bed once and for all.

The hallways were cold and nearly frozen the deeper she dove into the facility. She couldn't believe how large and complex it was as she reaches raided research labs showered in broken glass, bodies of scientists, and frozen blood, barracks turned into morgues, and even a mess hall transformed into a meat locker. She knew who did this... The brutality and sadistic nature of the killings were the calling card of the Black Hunter.

"How can someone be this cruel?" Harley asks herself as she passes the bodies of scientists nailed to the wall with bits and pieces of chemistry stands and glass.

"Help me..." The faint voice of a women shouted lifelessly from the wall. She turns her head to see a woman tacked to the wall with small rods from a beaker stand. "Please..."

Harley rushes to aid the woman anyway she could. Her hair was long and black with a slight sliver streak with deathly pale skin giving off a ghostly feel. Maybe it was the loss of blood from the rods in her hands and feet or maybe that was her natural skin tone, but It sent shivers down her spine. The long black hair was draped over her face like a shroud. Harley reaches to the woman's face to brush the hair out of the way, but the woman jerks her head up to face Harley.

"Child..." The woman whispers to her. "Do you really think he is your enemy? Do you?"

Harley couldn't respond, broadsided by the question given to her by the crucified on the wall in front of her. She could only muster one question: "What?"

"What is a enemy? Who is the enemy? Who dictates who or what your enemy?" The woman asks her. The blood soaked arm shoots from the wall and grabs Harley by her prison garbs. "What do you fight for?"

The woman throws Harley on to her stomach before her. Harley turns back to the woman on the wall, but it wasn't the woman she saw before her. The body was female, yes, but fair skinned and red haired with light freckles, A ginger. She rubs her eyes confused at what she just experienced. Before her eyes only seconds ago was a raven haired woman and now a ginger...

What did she mean, or what did it, or whatever it was, meant by?

She shook her head in some childless idea that it would clear her mind. Was it real? It felt real as did the iron smell of blood in the air and the stains on her collar. But was it her blood or the woman's? The ripping sound of a machine gun derails her chain of thought.

"Karl...!" Harley hisses as gun fire echos near her. Back on the trail of the Black Hunter once more...

Steel and concrete for miles it seems as her feet tap against the floor. But it didn't last forever. The hallway ends and lead her to a large underground highway made purely of concrete and asphalt with lines of military trucks, LMTV's and their 8x8 HEMTT cosins, sitting at the ready.

" _What are all these trucks for?"_ Harley asks herself. " _The Ruskie says theirs a airport near here, how else would he gets his plane here. But I don't know why they woulds need all these trucks."_

They were perfectly aligned and spaced as if they were about to be moved. It was standard military protocol to stage vehicles before movement to minimize the time to move out in a formation. The GCPD's prison convoys to Arkham or Armored Bank trucks where the closest thing she ever saw to a tactic like this. She understood that this was a military facility, but what would they need all these trucks for?

She walks to one of the lighter trucks and curiously places her hand on the side of the engine compartment, a tactic taught to her by Batman to gauge when a vehicle was moved. It was a simple skill and it helps when your staking out a area for days on end.

" _It's warm... Too warm..."_

Her curiosity took the wheel and her eyes drew to the large object covered by a tarp on the flat bed. She unties a corner and throws the corner over the side. What she finds confuses her, "Fertilizer... With ammonium nitrate."

"Wait..."

The air... The air around her it reeks... Reeks of diesel fuel...

She moves to the next truck and finds the same cargo of Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer. It was safe to assume the other vehicles were carrying the same cargo. The source of the diesel was obvious by the pool of fuel gathered around the center tanker trucks that this was a hastily made Fertilizer bomb. There was enough in this tunnel to rubble. No way in hell Waller set this up, if she was creating an army then she wouldn't need something this crude as a plan B to scuttle her operation.

It had to be him...

BZZZZ!

The ripping of a machine in the distance broke her train of thought once more reminding her of who was in the area as well. There was only one way to get to him.

* * *

Only a few sections away from the tunnel along the path of destruction was it's creator, Karl Dael, nearing his end. Through the door was his prize, His Salvation. It was so close... So very close...

But something drew him away from the thresh hold of his Salvation beyond that door and toward the path of destruction her left behind.

From wall to wall spanning two rows of creation pods for the army of counterfeits was the production line that now laid in ruins at the hands of a heavily armed and armored Karl Dael. The born and unborn corpses of science's bastard children laid in their chambers shot to pieces, lay hanging on the glass windows of their doors, or on the ground in a puddle of their own blood. His assault on the production line was swift and brutal, as was his attack on Waller's base of operations. He gave no quarter to the born or unborn, living or yet to live, He never saw either of them as human. Some would call what he did here as a massacre, but he saw it differently...

This was not murder. But a cleansing, A blood letting. Pay back for betraying him, Revenge.

The thumbing of foot steps put him on high alert. " _The abominations are dead, Waller and Slade are gone, and the other two are in the chamber. Who else could be down here?"_

He checks the remaining ammunition on his counter for the 'Predator' Ammunition Backpack system for his MG-3 machine gun. Thanks to his raw physical strength and the help of a armored Exo-Skeleton known by the code name of 'Black Bear', He was able to carry up to 1200 rounds of ammo and spare barrels to keep his machine gun running for extended periods of time. But the blood letting of 'The Mountain' caused him to burn through almost his entire load out.

" _Thirty rounds..."_ He hisses. " _It sounds like only one, but there could be more walking in tandem."_ The Black Bear Exo-Skeleton he wore was slightly damaged from the action he took on the way to the assembly area. The chest piece was cracked, the legs were damaged, the arms were destroyed along with the helmet.  
" _They better not be a troop worth of those stormtroopers with the OBZ's again. One more burst from those and I'm gone... If I'm going out... I'm going out a man."_

The footsteps dissipated and silence filled the room. He tightens his grip on the bipod of the Machine gun, readying himself to give his attacker, or attackers, a nasty surprise.

But instead of a squad of troops...

It was Harley Quinn...

"Good morning Quinn." Karl greets her with his weapon at the low ready.

"Fuck off." Quinn replies hatefully.

"And Hello to you too." Karl snickers. "I'm pleased to see you woke up from the Hydrostasis, if you wish to call it. Tell me... Was it as painful to be hooked up to a machine and harvested? Was it as painful as the 'methods' at Arkham?"

"I've been through worse, Bastard." Harley snarls. "Your a dirty crook, you know that? You work with the Wall to make us a supermarket of genes for her counterfeit army. I knew I couldn't trust you. Guess what buddy, You fucking dead when I get my hands on you."

"Yet you did." Karl replies. "You trusted me and, after all, I did keep my promise and I aided you in finding you beloved. But no one rides for free... You had a price to pay. We all did."

"What price did you pay?" Harley snaps. "Your a fucking merc. What? Did Waller cheat you outta dollar? That's the only thing you fucking car about beside yourself."

Karl's expression grows hard and hateful. His grip tightened on the machine gun and his body began to tense up as if he was going to let her have the rest of the belt handing out of the machine gun. "The value of money is only give by those who give it value. I don't care about money. The price I paid is something that could never be paid off..."

The towering figure of Karl opens the final door and commands for her to follow. She reluctantly follows behind him, all according to plan...

They enter a room with a single containment chamber with one chamber covered by a black veil with a X shaped necklace sitting on top. Karl takes the necklace in his free hand and stares at it intensely. Harley didn't recognize the object right away, but it soon made sense to her once Karl's demeanor changed from hostile to calm.

"When she died something with in me, what innocence, or sanity, I had left went with her." Karl explains in a low tone. "On that day I swore to myself that I would avenge her. I spent years tracking down who was responsible for the attack. It was my lust for revenge that brought me to Gotham and I got my revenge... In the end it was that need for revenge was what kept me going after Arkham City. After I got what I wanted, I simply found myself adrift... Once again I had no propose... But The Wall gave me propose once more. By gathering what she needed to begin building Seventh Wave, she rewarded me with Ra's Al Ghul on a sliver platter."  
He gives a half heart chuckle as he puts his hand on the glass. "Funny thing about revenge is that once you get it, Nothing fills the void. Maybe that's why Bruce hasn't killed the man who murdered his Mother and Father all those years ago. Crazy how something as simple as getting what you want can change you. But that was not the only thing I wanted, I wanted her killers blood on my hands so bad that I could taste it. Once I had centuries old blood on my hand began my way toward Salvation..."

"Amanda Waller gave me my revenge and my Salvation."

"Is that her?" Harley asks.

He only stares at her with a blank impression.

"Once I finish here... Once I finish what I started... I can return to life I once had." Karl says in a haunting tone.

"Your fucking wacko." Harley replies bluntly. "You sound just like... like... Me..."

"No... Oh no I am not like you." Karl replies darkly. "Unlike you, I have the ability to make my dream a reality. With all the funds I have amerced through my years of work for the Government and Private interests along with my reputation world wide no one will question what I say is reality. But before I can do this, I have to complete the mission..."

He puts the necklace around his neck and turns to Harley. "All I have to do now is tie up the last loose end and disappear. I've waited to long to finish you... To Punish you for what you did."

"Why? Why turn on your boss?" Harley demands.

"She left me in the Gulag, in North Korea, to rot... She says it was to straighten me out because I was to reckless. Ever since I came back to Waller I was put on nothing but wet works to keep my assassin skills nice and sharp! Do you remember those you killed? The innocents you slaughtered? And the bodies of children laying in their mothers arms? I do! I have nightmares, nearly every night! They won't leave me alone!" He puts his machine gun to the ready and aims at Harley.

"QUINN! ONCE I KILL YOU MY PURPOSE WILL BE FULLFILLED! THE NIGHTMARES END TODAY!"

"DAMN RIGHT!" Harley shouts cartwheeling away as Karl opens fire with the remaining belt in his machine gun.

"What?! Can't shoot a girl huh?" Harley snickers as fires another burst at her. "Nahaha! Miss me!"

She was quick, to quick for his reflexes in the Exo-skeleton. She runs toward him by running on the walls and leaping between the creation chambers to throw off his aim. "Your quick Quinn!" He shouts as she leaps to attack him. She goes for the strike, but Karl dumps the machine gun and activates the emergency overdrive, speeding up the exo-skeleton briefly for Hand to Hand combat. Quinn is quick, throwing punches at his face and high kicks to keep him on the defense. She knew if she let him take the offence he would destroy her with the power of that Exo-Skeleton.

 _"Only if I had a suit like Bats I could take him one on one easy. But this is a little one sided."_ She thought to herself as she kicked his feet out from under him and dropped him to the ground.

Big mistake...

As soon as he hit the ground he used the power of the suit to sweep her off her feet and toss her into the side of a creation chamber. The force of hitting the chamber rocked her enough to blur her vision and disorientate her.

"URRRRAAAAAA!"

She roles to the ground before Karl smashes the chamber. The Harlequin takes advantage of the time she has and delivers a blistering assault of punches to his side and rips the wiring to his Exo Spine out, disabling his suit. Leaving him in only his long black coat

"Ha! Ya! Can't get me Karl boo!" Harley chuckles as she prances around with the wires in her hands.

Karl growls and hits the emergency release, opening the suit to allow him to exit quickly and put him back into the fight. With blood dripping from his face he goes on the offensive delivering a hay maker to Harley's obnoxious face and followed up with low shots to the ribs and stomach. Harley could feel her ribs screaming as his blows seemed to rip through her body like a thunder bolt. He was good, very good, but not Bruce Wayne good.  
He makes mistake, unlike Bruce Wayne...

His kicks were sub par and slow. She catches his leg and flips him over on to his front. Following up on her attack, Harley closes in to pin him to the ground and break his legs or arms to cripple him. But Karl was quick, kicking her feet from under her and putting himself firmly back onto his feet.

"What were you saying again?" Karl laughs as he closes in on her.

Harley flips onto her feet and cartwheels into the darkness. "Keep running Quinn."

Karl chuckles and draws one of his Mauser pistols from his holster. She dives on him from the shadows and lands on his shoulders, her thighs rapped around his head and neck like a vice. Karl resists and tries to shoot her, discharging rounds in her directions as he struggles to throw her off of him as she ties wires around his neck to suffocate him. The wire rips into his skin blood oozing out of the wounds from the raw copper. He fires in vein as his vision becomes black and his conscience fades with every gasp of breath.

But he just wouldn't quit...

Karl throws himself against a pod, throwing his whole body against it in a attempt to throw Harley off and regain control before he suffocates. The force of the impact knocks the trigger of the Mauser pistol out of place making it a runaway, a weapon that will fire until its empty with out control. Bullets ricochet across the room as it all fades to black around him..

"AHHHHHHH!" Harley Screams as a bullet cuts into her shoulder sending her to the ground in a bloody mess. Karl rips the wire off his neck, blood dripping onto his coat.

She screams from the gun shot wound to the shoulder, rolling on the floor with her hand against the wound trying to keep pressure to stop the bleeding. He walks over to her and rolls her over onto her back with his boot. Harley looks up at the looming figure in the fading light of the chamber. His heavy boot feels like a press against her chest getting tighter and tighter as he puts his full weight on her chest.

"Look at you." He says arrogantly as he relishes in her misery. "Bullet to the shoulder, Not as bad as it looks but its a wound that will stay with you the rest of your life. It will always hurt, even with modern medicine. In the same shoulder as Bruce as well... Hmmm. Lucky shot eh? For the both of us in fact. That wire could have cut through my neck if you pulled hard enough..."

He draws his second pistol, another Mauser pistol, and holds it against her face. The heavy frame shimmering in the light as it hovered above. "These wounds will stay with us for the rest of our lives as scars, you know? But these aren't just simple scars that will just mark our bodies like a mire decoration- No - These scars will give us a pain that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Wounds that we won't forget, A Phantom Pain. We share this pain, this is ours, and always will. But we share something else as well... We lost some one close to us... We forsaken ourselves for people that treated us like the scum of the earth... We did things that no one on this earth should ever lived through. We've seen death and suffered together..."

The boot comes off her chest and the gun disappears from view. "I can't kill you... I realize that now. Your just like me. I'm just like you. I am you... And you are me. Two lost souls wandering aimlessly among the living looking for a way to make things normal again... Your tough. I'll give you that. But you weren't tough enough to best me. Maybe lady luck prefers me over you. Either way Harley it was a pleasure serving with you. But I have a life to resume."

He throws the pistol into a pod and removes his coat and throws it over his shoulder. The clicking of his boots against the metal floor was deafening as he leaves her to die. He was right, he couldn't kill her, But he didn't say anything about letting her bleed out.

"Is that it?" Harley asks as she struggles to bring herself to her feet. "Is this is how your going to leave me?"

 _Bastard uses hollow point bullets..._ She growls to herself as latches onto a near by pod for support. _My bones feels like broken glass in jello... I'm bleeding to much for this... I'm not leaving this place alive and neither will he..._

Karl stops briefly in the doorway between the main chamber and his salvation. Is that it? Is that it?... Her question plays through his head over and over again. Was this it for him? For her? Was this it?

"You just going to leave me here to bleed out just because you won't kill me? What's stopping you, huh?" Harley pries as her anger builds. "You ain't gotta code like bats and you damn sure not the sparing type, just ask your brother and your sister, Oh wait you fucking killed them too. But why not me, huh?" From the corner of her eye she could see his working Mauser sitting in the pod.

"You just going to walk away from me?" She takes the pistol in hand and checks the chamber, a full magazine of hollow point bullets.

"No." Karl says as he sets foot into the chamber and removes the cover to reveal the fresh naked body of his project, a woman. "I'm only relishing the moment of truth."

The chamber opens and the wires, IV's, and cords leave the woman's body. She floats motionlessly in the cool blue water with her long flowing hair dancing in the water. His tattooed arms dip into the water and sweep up the maiden from her chamber. Harley didn't believe what she was seeing...

The woman in his arms was not the short haired blonde that the files pictured... No, her hair was long and black like a veil or the night sky with a streak of grey shooting down her bangs like a belt of stars. The skin was ghostly pale that seemed to illuminate as if it were a aura coming off of a angel. She was beautiful beyond all means with a hour glass waist and extremely fit body. Harley was jealous and confused. Who was this woman he held in his arms?

Harley was sure that she had seen a woman like this before. But it was long ago, in Arkham- NO - Blackgate... six, maybe seven, years ago. The woman saved her from the guards at Blackgate when The Joker tried to take over the prison again in a botched escape attempt. It was when Harley was in full control and Harleen was slowly disappearing, A difficult time in her life that she wish she could forget and this meeting was something she could never forget...

* * *

 **Flashback: Blackgate Prison- Seven Years Ago**

 _"OK OK, Lets try Hydrogen cyanide and Strychnodide." Harleen says to herself, thinking aloud, as she mixes the two chemicals together into a syringe. "Now the test."_

 _Lab rats, Cats, Dogs, People... It didn't matter at that time. The Joker seduced her to do things that the real Harleen Quinnzel wouldn't even contemplate._

 _"Doc please..." A inmate plead to her from his chains. "Please! Not like the dogs! PLEASE!"_

 _"Shut up." She shouts in her thick Brooklyn accent as she jams the syringe in his arm._

 _The toxin she was cooking up in a sealed off wing of Blackgate was unknown at that time. It didn't take long till the whole town began to know the infamous toxin in its various forms and the crooked smiles and mad laughter from its victims, Joker Venom._

 _"Convulsing, uncontrollable laughter, slowly whiting skin, discoloring lips..." She writes down as the victim slowly begins to die in front of her. "He's becoming Mr-"_

 _A bullet whizzes past her and into the victims head. She quickly searches for the source of the shot only to be grabbed from behind by a tall man in a long back coat and black military cap._

 _"Dr. Harleen Quinnzel." A woman's voice addresses her. "A gifted Psychiatrist working with the renown Dr. Hugo Strange here in Gotham. You've came a long way to be here."_

 _"Who the hell are ya and tell this baboon that Halloween was last month!" She howls as she struggles in the large mans arms._

 _"Can I please knock her out already?" The man asks in a strange accent, maybe German or German-American. "Kill her maybe? These hexigon_ _suppressors are nearly silent and the current will send her body right into the ocean. Wipe her records and it would be like she never existed."_

 _"No Karl." The woman replies in a estrange french like accent, Cajun if she places it right. "We need her coherent and alive for this. She has a role we need her to play in the future. And besides, you two are fated to one another just like you and me."_

 _"Spare me your fate bullshit, Claudia." Karl replies rudely. "Where's Hugo Strange?"_

 _"Wouldn't you like to know?" Harley spats._

 _Claudia opens her hand and with seconds a strange feeling over takes her as if someone has a direct connection to her soul. All the voices in her head went silent and their was only Her, Harleen, and Harley. The connection was something that she couldn't explain even to this day with modern science and could only be called magical. When she closed her hand the voices returned and chaos resumed._

 _"Now do you remember, Who you are and what you were meant to do?" Claudia asks her._

 _"Harley Quinn." She replies in Harley Quinn's voice. "Harleen Quinnzel." She replies again, but this time in Harleen's voice._

 _"Help Mr. J make people laugh and understand him."_

 _"Help the mentally ill return to sanity."_

 _It was a strange moment in her life where both personalities were two separate entities and when Harleen first began truly fighting the hostel take over by her unhinged alternate personality and the Joker's influence. This woman caused this through forces Harleen would only dream of understanding._

 _"Good, Good girl." Karl replies as he lets her go. "It seems this one is in league with the clown, one of them at least. Multiple Personality disorder by the sounds of it. A serious case of it at that."_

 _"It seems so." Claudia agrees. "Though, unlike some, they are conflicting and fighting for control. Some with such issues have some kind of checks and balances for their personalities, but it seems that her other side is effected by other factors. Isolation, Fear, Lonesomeness, and even lack of_ _Identity."_

 _Karl chuckles, "For those in who in Misery contemplate your brand new savior. Look the the sky and embrace your inter fear. What do you fear, Doctor Quinnzel and Ms. Quinn?"_

 _"I fear being alone." Quinn speaks._

 _"I fear being alone." Quinnzel speaks._

 _"You won't be alone, either of you, when you have each other." Claudia replies. "You are fated with another and with him you will never be alone."_

 _"Is it Mr. J?" Quinn replies in ecstasy._

 _"I can not say." Claudia replies mysteriously._

 _"Tell us where Doctor Strange is and we'll consider it." Karl interjects._

 _"The old Asylum!" She replies quickly like a little girl when offered candy. "He's doing something really really important there with some of Mr. J's new friends! I don't know whats all it about, But Mr. J says it's something boring. Maybe a tea party or something if the Hatter is involved!"_

 _"Good girl." Karl replies as he strikes her with the side of his gun, knocking her to the ground._

 _"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Claudia exclaims. "You can not use the fate as a bargaining chip in your mortal games!"_

 _"Your sister would think otherwise."_

 _The woman, Claudia, was pale, ghostly pale, and her eyes, a bright and alluring teal, were burned into her memory for then on. She couldn't get what she said to her that day. Two years later she encountered her at the Seagate amusement park... That was the last time she ever drew a breath on this earth._

* * *

 _ **Present Day**_

The woman was set on her feet and stood up right on her own. To her surprise the regeneration process made her look as if she was in her early twenties, much younger than she was when she first encountered each other.  
But then something strange happens that shakes her to the very core...

Her hair suddenly becomes dry and straightens until it reaches shoulder length with her silver bangs resting on the sides of her face. Karl covers her body with his coat and buttons it with care on the ghostly maiden.

"Vivian." Karl speaks in a hushed tone. "I give you an offering..."

"NO!" A woman screams as a fury of gun shots from a high caliber revolver breaks the silence around them. Vivian, the coated woman, Opens her eyes to reveal Red Irises and motions her hands in a furious motion before disappearing into thin air. Leaving Karl to take the bullet in the chest. He staggers around, but Harley unloads the last of the Mauser's magazine into his chest and neck.

The Black Hunter fell to his knees with blood seeping from his chest, neck, nose, and mouth until finally falling over on his side in a puddle of dark red blood. Harley falls to her knees with the gun still in her hand. It was over, but she just didn't understand. Who was that woman he pulled from the tank?

Then she appeared...

Claudia, dressed in all black ACU's with red beret, rushes to aid her with a large caliber Webley-Fosbery in hand. "I have you child, don't be afraid." She reassures Harley as she looks at her shoulder.

"What?... I thought you were... Who are- What Are-"

"Don't worry about that now. You need medical attention. I can't help you hear, GET HER ON A STRETCHER!"

Armed men like Konev's carefully put her on a stretcher and carried her out of the room with hast. Leaving Claudia alone in the chamber with the fallen Black Hunter. He was still alive, albeit only clinging to the fabric of this world by tatters.

"Why?" She asks him as he slowly bleeds out in front of her.

"She told me, In my dreams, that she could have brought you back to me." He says in a low hesitant voice. "I thought you were dead after Seagate. Quinn shot you in the gut and kicked you off the rig. What the hell Claudia? Another one of your tricks? Or was I just another pawn like my wife in your little game of chest against your younger sister, Vivian? How many centuries have you and her played this game? How many good men and women have you two thrown to the fire?"

"You were a pawn in her game, not mine..." She says regretfully. "You mortals are dreadfully easy to lead on... Even one as sharp as you... The heart is a dangerous tool."

"Don't give me that god among insect shit..." He replies. "She'll show you that your no better than mire mortals..."

"I would love to see that, My love." Claudia aims the revolver at his head. "I love you, I always did."

"I love you too." Karl replies as a .455 bullet enters his skull, ending his existence once and for all.

"It's over for you, brave hunter. It's over. Not with a bang, but a wimpier." Claudia says as she leaves the chamber, and Karl, behind.


	9. Chapter 9: Semblant

_**I know it's been months since I've added on to this story. But the reason being is because my time has been extremely limited due to back to back training and travel. I hope you enjoy this.**_

 _ **With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Claudia stands on the rear loading ramp of the large cargo aircraft, a Black and Red AN-124 'Condor' with a Large red star with black hammer and sickle within it, with a long black fur lined trench coat and black ushanka fur hat. A blizzard was coming and she could feel it in the air as the snow began to gray out the sky around them.

"Quickly now!" She barks to the armed men in body armor and the works in thick coats as they loaded gear, Vehicles, and materials into the aircraft. "The blizzard won't slow down because of you."

Konev's, or rather Her, men were tough and hard working. But even they needed some encouragement from their leader. She knew them all by first name, something that leaders never took the time to learn about their men. Konev didn't care who they were, where they were from, or even to learn their last names stitched on their name tapes. They were numbers to him. But to Claudia, they were her Sons and Daughters. They moved quickly as the Blizzard began to take over loading up the last BTR-80 Armored Personal Carrier and some of the remaining cloning chambers. But something caught her eye as the BTR rolls up the ramp beside her.

A stretcher team rushes through the snow as the white out began to take effect. "Madam Marlin!" A Georgian, Able, shouts as his medical team arrives last.

"Able!" Claudia shouts. "What happen down there? It shouldn't have taken you long to retrieve a dead man."

"He is alive." Able replies her as they enter the aircraft.

Claudia growls with discontent as the team bring the breathing corpse of her former solider. The door begins to close as she moves deeper into the gigantic aircraft as the white out completely consumed the sky around them. "Should have used an iron bullet." She curses as they take him to the medical station on the second floor. The Condor was custom ordered from Antonov Design Bureau with added rooms in the front half of the aircraft. A make shift hospital, living quarters, dining hall, Science lab, and Brig. Claudia removes her coat and hat as she makes her way to the front portion of the aircraft to take her seat for take off. A beautiful window seat to see the next phase of her plan.

The aircraft screams to life as the gargantuan beast speeds down the runway and lifts into the air as a fiery explosions thunder out of the large concrete entrances and out the air vents.

"Seventh Wave is no more." Claudia remarks as the complex disappears in the white out. A female Dominican mercenary in grey turtle neck, cargo pants, black boots, and black beret baring the Leviathan Cross in red.

"Care for a drink, Madam Marlin." She asks Claudia offering her a glass of strong red wine.

"No Thank you Renee." She replies as gets out of her seat. "I require something... Stronger. I never drink wine."

"What would you prefer then? Scotch? Whisky? Everclear?"

Claudia laughs and waves her hand dismissively as she walks away from the cabin. "I'm not a cheap date, Montoya. Nor am I into women."

Montoya blushes as she watches Claudia walk away. She's dreamed of the day when she would lay with the Blood Countess as she was known. The name sent shivers down her spine. The name drew the image of the real blood countess, Elizabeth Bathory, a serial killer and countess who would bath in the blood of virgins to stay young, But the title didn't come from some kind of Vampiric acts of murder. Its said she earned the title after the purges she ordered during the rough years after Karl was given grace to leave the Brimstone Society so of which she lead herself. She was fearless and oozed with power. It drove Montoya wild and Claudia knew it. Montoya was invited into The Order because of her skills as a detective and her position in GCPD during the Arkham Knight Insurrection. Montoya proved to be a valuable asset in Gotham as it was her intel on troop movements and hacking into Oracles computer systems. She officially left the GCPD after being outed as a Lesbian and fully committed herself to the Order holding the rank of Captain.

"Madam I-" She tries to protest as Claudia chuckles.

"As you were Captain."

Montoya smirks and turns back to the cabin to enjoy the glass of red wine she brought out.

Claudia thinks nothing of it, it was just mindless flirting after all. Montoya's mind was else where but her own was fixated on Karl Dael laying in a special room in the medical bay. She passes by two guards near Bruce and Harley's quarters. Whatever they were up to was none of her business, but she could careless about matter of the flesh between those two. A sly smirk appears only brief on her ghostly white face as the scent of harsh tobacco fills the air.

She rolls her eyes and makes her way to Karl's personal infirmary. The large black door swings open and smoke oozes slowly from the doorway revealing a half naked Karl in only trousers. His body was covered in bandages, gauze, stitches, and burns. A normal man would have been hooked up to several machines to keep him alive, but Karl was not the average man. He was a warrior and something as small, to him at least, like a few bullet wounds and burns weren't going to stop him from smoking at the edge of his bed.

"Ah yes, the attendant, would you care to bring me a drink? Make it a stiff one." Karl replies without looking over as he exhales smoke out of his nose.

"This is a non-smoking flight sir." She replies playfully as she walks inside shutting the door behind her.

Karl chuckles as he takes another hit, "I thought you were dead, But I guess the rumors of you being a Demigod were more than just small talk."

"Demigod? No." Claudia replies. "I'm just as hard to kill as you."

"There's a difference between taking a bullet and falling 200 feet into water." Karl interjects as he takes a stiff drag off his cigarette. "Supernatural Powers aside, I believe your something more. After Louisianan ten years ago I've noticed several things about you."

Claudia giggles, "Is that so?" She asks with intrigue.

"Records have never had a clear age for you and your ability to alter your age leads me leads me to believe that your much older than any of us could believe." He explains. "Many of us assumed you to be a succubus, or the Boo Hag, but even that seems rather to much even for what I've seen... Not to mention your to... To."

"To what?" Claudia asks with more intrigue as she moves closer to him.

"To Human to be a monster." He says as he turns his face to her. His left eye was pure white with burn marks around the socket. "Your to Motherly to be Heartless. To sane to be apart of the Arkham Crew. To forgiving to be vengeful and to kind..."

Her hand touches his thigh and strokes it softly, "Maybe I'm just that way to the people I care for."

Karl smirks, "Maybe. Or maybe your just as Human as we all are."

She chuckles, "No honey, not at all. I'm something special just like you." Claudia moves closer to him and her hand moves closer to his man hood. Her emerald eyes saw passed the scares and looked into the depths of Karl's soul. It was a blazing fire of strong emotions of Anger, Loyalty, and Love. He was a warrior and his soul burned with the passion of one.

"Your just like your Father and all those before." Claudia says as she begins to stroke his thick black hair.

"You knew my old man and the older man?" Karl asks her with little surprise.

She gives a sleepily little smile, "I've known your whole family, Karl. Ever since they first came to this America..."

He pushes her away, "I knew you were more than appeared. What are you? Immortal?"

"Yes and No." Claudia replies as she casts a small spell with her free hand. "I'm almost vampiric in a way, but instead of blood I take the energy of humanity and nature."

Karl found it rather amazing and it rather shocked him. He could only reply with a question, "How old are you?"

She looks up toward the ceiling as if it was giving her some form of guidance. Her free hand takes the cigarette out of his hand and she takes a long drag. The tobacco fills her lungs giving her a sweet release and a little easy to calm her nerves. She never thought that she had to tell him this after all it was her best kept secret. But now seems she had to tell the truth. She couldn't hide it any longer.

"Very. The exact number is rather fuzzy to me. I lost count after 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, or was it 1918 after the Somme? I don't remember. It was long ago and many a young man has died between those years. Maybe three, four, or seven hundred years old? I'm not sure, but I do remember all the blood shed in between those years." She says ghostly as she pauses briefly to remember.

Karl says nothing. There was nothing to say. He couldn't believe it at all.

"Vandal." She continues as she takes another drag. "Vandal Savage made me who I am. Gave me a gift from the Homeland and said "This is meant for you and all those from our Race." That was 1692 during the Salem trials when I was caught for practicing dark magic, almost burned at the stake. But I managed to send those fools to the very fire they feared..."

"Homeland?"

"Thule..." She says dropping the cigarette on the floor. "Home... Our home..."

"Home? What are you?-" Karl tries to reply before Claudia started sobbing. "Are you ok?"

His arms were strong yet tender as they rapped around her petite frame. "Claudia..." He whispers in her ear. "Listen to me."

"We aren't for this world Karl..." She sobs. "We aren't for this world... We aren't for this world..."

He didn't understand what she meant, but her distraught cries seemed to confirm a age old deep seated question that he would he would ask himself late at night over a bottle of scotch and a game of Russian Roulette. Was he really for this world?

"What are you saying Claudia?" Karl asks as he holds her tightly. "Please Claudia tell me... Tell me... Please."

She breaks his hold and turns to face him with tears running down her face. "I can't! You won't believe me. I know you won't!"

He throws his arms around her and presses her against his chest. "I will believe you. I will." Karl wipes her tears with his hands and gazes deep with in her eyes.

They stare into one another eyes for what seemed to be a millennium... They locked lips passionately and soon the Witch and the Hunter began another battle, The battle of the heart.

* * *

"Say again?" Selena asks Konev as he pours a glass of wine for himself.

"About what?" He replies as he takes a sip of wine.

"The reason why your here, well I mean, in America. A Russian agent has no reason working with Americans." Selena replies as she helps herself to her own glass.

"I do not work for Russia. Maybe few years ago in FSB, but no more." The Russian says with a heavy heart. "But I find new purpose with the Order."

"This Order... Is it like that of that freak Azazel or a cult?" Selena asks.

Konev roles his eyes, "The Order is none of your business. What I can tell you is this, We are the lesser of many evils and it is in your best interest to keep us on the best of terms."

"Oooh. A threat? How cute." Selena taunts him.

"Insolent girl." Konev hisses, but lets his reason take over rather than his anger and begins to remember her question. "The Order brought us here for a Police action, if you will, to eliminate the spread of Artificial DNA Reproduction."

"Police action?"

"Yes, Police action." Konev explains. "This is to 'even the playing field', as you Americans say, for the meta-humans. The time is not right, the world is to engulfed in its own affairs for the desired effect we, or should I say the groups, demand."

"What are you talking about?" Selena asks as her words began to slur and the room began to spin. "Wha-What the?..."

She hits the floor and everything goes black. Konev sips the wine with a smirk, "What? Can't handle your drink?"

"That is low, even for you Konev." Montoya replies as she enters the room.

"And flirting with our elder is perfectly fine? I think not." He says with disgust. "Be grateful that Madam Marlin doesn't judge someone for their degeneracy. If it were up to me I would have had you shot."

"Keep your comments to yourself, why don't you?" Montoya replies as two men take Selena away to the medical bay.

"Then keep your conduct professional and I will do the same." He replied sharply.

Montoya growls and puts her hand on her side arm. She wants to shoot him for his comments against her sexuality. Montoya was a lesbian and many in the Order knew this, but she tried to keep it under raps as much as possible, especially with someone like Konev who would love to have her expelled or shot out right. The Order was strict on the conduct of its members to remain professional at all time. Konev has it in for her due to her sexuality and is strongly Anti-Homosexual and Montoya hates him for it.

Suddenly she feels his hand on hers and another on the back of her neck. She's pinned against the cabinet by the Russian and disarmed with in second. "Do it again and I'll show you what kind of powers I have. Understand?" He says as he throws her to the floor. "Selena Kyle was a little to sarcastic for my tastes so I simply put a little memory loss additive in her drink so she forgets that all of this Operation had to offer. Now I need you to do the same for Bruce Wayne, Harley Quinn, and Jason Todd. Amanda Waller is going to be a subject to a more 'Forceful' variation of this treatment. Now go."

Konev gives her back her dissembled 9mm back to her and brushes her away. Montoya grudgingly does what she is told for fear of what he would do to her. The sadist was known for torture and saw it as the ultimate form of human expression. She knew what he was going to do to Waller and it churned her stomach just thinking about it.

* * *

They lay in the bed together their naked sweat drenched bodies rapped intertwine together into a picture perfect example of love. Her long blond hair was free and scattered over the pillow and on her lovers chest. Bruce's arms were rapped around her like a blanket of strong muscle against her soft hour glass figure. The musky smell after passionate love filled the air around them. It was beauty in the purest of sense.

"Bruce." Harley whispers to him.

"Harley." He replies, locking lips with her once more.

"Never leave me." She whispers as she breaks away from the kiss. But Bruce simply stops and turns his head away.

"Bruce?" She asks him, raising from underneath the covers revealing her perky breasts.

"I can't promise anything to you Harley." Bruce said. "It's not that I want to leave, its that I have to. I can't hide anymore. The Truth is out about Batman and no one is afraid anymore. Criminals will never respect anyone other than their selves and only understand fear."

"You sound just like Crane." She replies.

"Never compare me to him or any other of those scum." Bruce replies with venom in his breath. "Crane is right about one thing. It's fear that motivates us and anything we do. But he used his knowledge to commit murder."

"And you used it against him and now you got some guy playing Batman in Gotham for you." Harley responds. "You know how to put these pricks in line, yet you don't do it yourself. Why?"

"Gotham needs something better than me." Bruce replies defeated. "Another must take my place."

Harley throws the covers and begins throwing on a robe and underwear. "No one can fill your place."

"Where are you going?" Bruce demands.

"Away till you figure out who you are again." Harley says spitefully as she slams the door behind her. Bruce doesn't chase her. She just doesn't understand, just like Selena, and she won't understand.

"You just can't put the city behind you eh?" A deep accented voice replies from the shadows.

"So she didn't kill you." Bruce replies to the voice. "Good. That just means I will have to bring you in."

"Yes and No." Karl replies as he steps out from the shadows in his long black trench coat and black uniform. "Waller's illegal cloning experiment was my target along with the destruction of her Seventh Wave fleet. You can thank myself and the Order for leveling the playing field for your comrades at the tower."

"I don't know what you mean." Bruce says coolly as he puts on a pair of grey combat pants.

"Don't bullshit me Bruce." Karl says as he lights a cigarette. "Waller's intelligence is good and that says a lot especially regarding the poor quality of American intelligence services. But it didn't take a genius to figure out that Wayne Enterprises hand in NASA isn't just a simple business venture. The billions spend on 'Satellite communications' and 'Lunar craft' wasn't just to aid the crippling American Space program. No No Mr. Wayne, you have some very powerful friends and they need a place that is secure and gives them a birds eye view of the world they swore to protect. The League, Mr. Wayne, is not a secret to the Americans anymore. Or at least not anymore."

"Wiping their servers was unnecessary." Bruce says as he puts on a grey turtle neck. "My contacts would have taken care of that in time."

"But they didn't. Think of it as a favor." Karl said as he blew a cloud of smoke around them. "Besides, I could careless about your comrades. This might be the last time we meet Bruce and I want to bid my farewell. You've fought well Bruce as my advisory and maybe one day we'll meet again."

"Your leaving this plane." Bruce warns him.

"Your right, But for different reasons." Karl explains. "Claudia and I have business to attend to with her new Order. I'm their new field commander and as their field commander I will not leave this plane until we land at my set destination. Currently we are returning to the United States and there is where we will part ways for good."

"Do I have to repeat myself?"

"No." Konev replies as he drives a needle into Bruce's back. Bruce begins to black out and falls to the ground before the two coated figures. "Next."

* * *

She's alone. Good. My chance is now.

Harley looks around as the cigarette smoke fads away in the cargo bay. The bay was massive and contained almost a literal Army group of heavy APC's and even two small American 'Little Bird' choppers and enough weapons and supplies to over throw a small country. These guys weren't the average mercenaries and she knew that by the way they fought their way out of the complex. They were of the same breed as Karl and that scared her terribly to the point she began chain smoking.

"Their can't be any more of him..." She shivered. "This world would be better with out him."

"Same could be said about you, Quinn." The voice of Jason says as he moves out of the darkness with a Large Desert Eagle aimed at her.

"Jason? What are you-" He throws her against a near by container and shoves the barrel under her chin.

"What Quinn?" Jason responds with venom in his words. "You think I forgot what you did to me? IN ARKHAM? You think I forgot? No, No, No, NO! Bruce may have let the Joker die. But I'm not so kind. No, Your going to pay for what you did to me."

Harley chuckles, "Your a joke, bub. A bad one too. What? Did you decide to remember now?"

He strikes her with his weapon and punches her in the stomach, but she still laughs. "Fucking softy! You punch like a girl!"

Jason goes mad and starts hitting her over and over and over again. But she doesn't stop even as blood began to pour from her mouth. "Having a tantrum little Robin? What did it this time? Bad dream, secret plan, or are you just trying to hit on me? Well It ain't gonna work! I'm with the big bat and I

A sharp kick to her side brings her to the ground and a strong arm raps around her neck, "You took my life with the Joker and now your taking him?! NO! I'm not letting that clowns whore to take the only man who cared about me! I'M NOT LETTING HIM GO!" His grip grows tighter and tighter taking away every breath she had as everything began to fad into black. "I'm not letting another clown take my life away!"

"I've been chocked harder in bed kiddy!" She says as she begins to suffocate.

The harsh thunderous sound of a high caliber handgun echos through the cargo bay. "What are you doing?!" Jason shouts to sound behind him. Harley can't make out who it was, but she had her own idea of who it might be. Jason is ripped off of her by a large figure in black, "Bruce..." She says as she fights to stay conscience but the sounds of a beating sounds like a lullaby to her.

The dark figure approaches her and begins to wipe the blood from her chin with a rag. "Always looking for a fight eh?" The voices says with a slight German accent.

"What the?" She says as he picks her up into his arms cradling her like a beautiful maiden.

"Save your words." He replies as he begins to take her out of the Cargo bay. It couldn't be him... But it was once she heard him speaking in a Russian to the ominous figure of Konev as he injects Jason with some kind of syringe. From what she could make out Konev wanted to inject her with it, but Karl refused. For whatever reason she didn't know as everything went black. "No one will ever believe her comrade. Don't worry."

 _It had to be a bad dream..._

* * *

Thrusting forward in bed Harley awakes to the sun shining into her room. The soft silk sheets gracing her perfect skin and the sight of Alfred bringing her a small cup of herbal tea shocked her. She was breathing heavily as if she had ran a marathon, "Where? Where am I? Alfred? Bruce?"

"Ms. Quinzel are you alright?" Alfred asks in his usual proper English accent as he enters the room with a plate with a cup of herbal tea. "You must have had a dreadful nightmare."

She removes the covers to see her body was spotless, no bruises, no cuts, nothing. Just nothing. "What... What the hell? No No No, what happen? What day is it? Bruce! Where is..."

Alfred smiles and points out the window where Bruce is preparing two horses for a long ride on a trail. "Master Bruce has returned." He says with a tear in his eye.

"But... How did I?... How did I get here? Where are we?" She asks him, confused as how she got here.

"Argentina, Ms. Quinzel. A rather estrange German brought you here." Alfred explains as he pulls envelope out of his pocket. "He says he was returning a favor. He never gave his name, but Master Bruce said he was a old enemy."

"Karl..." She hisses with venom in her breath. "He brought me here... Why?"

Alfred sets the note beside the cup of herbal tea and hands her the plate. "The note is from the man. I made sure it wasn't anything toxic before giving it to you Ms. Quinzel. You can never be to careful in this day and age."

"Thank you Al. Please tell Bruce I will be ready in a hour or so. I have to get my head straight." She replies kindly to the loyal butler. He smiles and returns to his usual days chores.

"Argentina?" She says with astonishment. "Your a long way from Home Harley. Wow..." The once proud Clown Princesses of Crime gazes out of her large pan window to see Alp like mountains that she recognized as the Andes mountains. Funny how Bruce would commission a home here in the middle of the mountains of South America. She figured he would be more of Swiss Alps kind of man, but I guess you have to think outside of the box when you fake your death. Maybe their was another Batcave under this one burred deep with in the mountains or underground. Maybe their was a lake near by where he had a underwater fortress complete with another Batmobile, Batwing, and maybe a Batsub? She snickers, "Ha Batsub."  
Taking a small sip of her tea she gets up and throws on a black and red robe to gaze out into the beauty outside of the window. But before she could take in the beauty she grabs the Envelope. It was just a simple tan envelope with the letters 'K.D' written in black ink with her name written in red below it. Breaking its seal to find a coffee stained and scorched note with a picture attached to it of what appeared to be a young Karl Dael and a short blonde haired goth girl in green. It was strange to see him smiling and even though this picture was obviously from a time when he wasn't the brutal killer she knew and reviled it still unnerved her to see that wide tooth smile and those green eyes of his with the gleam in his eye. As she began to read the note she sipped her tea... Every word disturbed and confused her and she thought to herself how he survived...

 _Dear Harley,  
_ _If you are reading this then it is because I let you. The reason being is that It was never my intent to kill you, but to make you kill me. Well look how that turned out and look what I brought about on this world. You don't understand what I did and I never believe you ever will until the time comes. I will say this: One day you will understand. But I didn't write this to simply mock you and tell you that you will never understand me. No. I want to say that you were Right and I was Wrong. I really wish I took your offer and talked to you about what I did... It would have changed everything... I betray you because I wanted to return to the past, to a happier time, but I ended up unleashing something that will end us if I do not stop it. I want to say that I'm sorry and I know you will never take it. I just want to let you know that I am still Human... Before we dropped you and Bruce in Argentina we put you both through a special treatment that repairs the body at alarming rate, thanks to the use of TITAN induced cells, to repair the damage done to you. It has no known side effects and has been tested countless times on live subjects. But we had to do one thing that would seal the secret of the Order and bury Seventh Wave for good. We wiped the memories of Slade, Waller, Jason, Selena, and Bruce to protect it. What happen in the Mountain will stay in the Mountain. Humanity should never have the ability to play god and in order to protect Humanity we had to destroy it. That was my mission since the beginning. My intent was never to drag you or Bruce into this, but it seems a rather unknown factor came into play: You reminded me of my late wife and I wanted to protect you. But I saw you as a threat to the mission and fought a bloody war within to decide your fate. The will of the Heart beat the demands of the mind in this case, but It seems I had no choice in the matter and fate gave you safe passage to return to the land of the living. You've earned it. I have to congratulate you on a well fought battle. You bested me and rightfully so. Maybe we'll meet again and we'll see who will best who? I wish you a long and joyful life, Harleen, and I hope our paths cross again but on more friendly terms._

Sincerely, Karl Dael.

 _P.S, I wiped your records. Your free. If you wish to return to your former profession, then you can without any skeletons in the closet. Call it a gesture of good will from me. You've put your past behind you and its fare that your past let go of you as well. It's fare that your story, just like the Joker, is put to rest._

She crushes the note in her hand as she finished her tea. "Bastard has the nerve to beg for my forgiveness. I don't forgive snitches and two faced bastards who try to kill me or my family. Thanks for giving me a second chance, but you won't live long when I find you Karl Dael. I'll make you regret letting me remember your story."


End file.
